


Forest Gump Had it Right, Box of Chocolates and Life and Whatever

by LaughingFreak



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cheating, College/University, F/F, F/M, High School, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Older Man/Younger Woman, Reconciliation, friendships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-02-15 11:56:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13030563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingFreak/pseuds/LaughingFreak
Summary: Kliff and Clair are complete opposites, but they make their relationship work much to the surprise of others.This is the beginning of their relationship to the beginning of their relationship. It makes sense, trust me.[8/12/18---GOING ON HIATUS UNTIL I HAVE ENOUGH CHAPTERS BUILT UP TO BE COMFORTABLE...and until I get all these oneshots and plot bunnies out of my head so they can stop distracting me...]





	1. The Lady’s Special Time

**Author's Note:**

> Kliff is 15 years old, going on 16. Clair is 18 years old. They do not start a sexual relationship until he is 16.
> 
> Genny will be 16 when she goes after the man she is interested in. There is no sexual relationship between them until post story.

Kliff pulled at the neck of his t-shirt and shook it to get a breeze as he walked down the sidewalk. The weather was unforgiving in its humidity and heat, hot enough that the weather forecaster recommended that anyone with breathing problems to be careful at spending prolonged periods of time outside. It was a record breaking heat wave.

And yet, here he was, walking outside down the sidewalk at high noon to get to the convenient store. If Tobin wasn’t borrowing his car he would’ve just drove, but no. Tobin actually had an appointment he couldn’t miss and Gray had the one car that was working at the moment between the two. He doesn’t understand how Gray could forget when Tobin always puts appointment information on the calendar.

If Gray hadn’t forgotten about his partner’s doctor’s appointment he wouldn’t be walking out in this heat and wanting to strip his clothes off down to his bare skin so he could get some air.

But no, the idiot forgot and now he’s blaming him for this turn of events.

And possibly menstrual cycles as well, to be honest.

When the convenient store came into view Kliff practically ran to across the street to get inside. The air was cool and he took a deep relieved breath. At the register there was a guy with a vest and name tag that gave him a sympathetic look. Kliff nodded and made his way down the aisles.

The editor took his time, enjoying the air conditioned store for as long as he could before he had to go back to hell. He was really in no rush to go back out in that.

As he walked down the aisles he texted Tobin to see if he was done with his appointment. The response took a few minutes and he was looking at the chocolates, debating on which ones to buy, when his phone dinged.

[ _just finished my appointment, where u @?_ ]

Kliff scrunched his nose up in disgust. Seeing texting like that always made him feel like he lost a brain cell. [ _You text like Gray and it’s disgusting. I’m at the convenient store a mile east of my apartment. Pick me up._ ]

He put his phone back in his pocket and finally went for what he came to the store for. First was the candy aisle where he grabbed a couple bags of Hershey’s Kisses then quickly down the aisle of toiletries.

He paused for a minute, trying to remember which brand his girlfriend used, then grabbing a box of the room he remembers seeing in her bathroom. With a knowing sigh he went to the register to pay for everything.

And just as he thought would happen the guy at the counter looked at him like he was an oddity that needed sympathy. Really, the only sympathy he needed was from the heat. Buying these things together? Not really high on his sympathy chart.

“You got everything?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Kliff answered.

Kliff watched as the guy, a teenager by the looks of it, tried his best not to have to touch the box of tampons more than he had to. The idea of them seemed to repulse him more than anything right now and Kliff only thought it dramatic. Honestly, once you have a girlfriend for a long while you eventually reach this point in the relationship. Like a natural progression.

“Got forced into buying this stuff, huh?” he asked with an awkward laugh.

The editor just raised an eyebrow. “No, I just happened to notice that my girlfriend was getting low and that her period was coming up. Maybe when you’re mature enough to not cringe at the sight of feminine hygiene products or the concept of a period you’ll understand.”

At first the teen gaped then he glared at the older man.

“You don’t have to be a dick,” he grounded out.

Maybe Kliff was being a bit of a dick, but honestly, it didn’t matter to him. “My change.” He held out his hand.

The cashier practically growled at Kliff like an angry animal and slammed the change down onto the counter, resisting the urge to toss it across the store. He made sure that Kliff saw the nasty look he was giving him before saying, “Fuckin’ asshole.”

Kliff pocketed the change and took out his phone to check if Tobin was here. A car honked twice and he looked up to find that his friend was at the first gas pump. He takes his plastic bag and walks out of the store without another thought. Tobin was already getting out of the car and switching over to the passenger side.

The editor hopped into the driver’s seat, adjusted the mirrors and seat, and then put the car in drive. “Where do you want me to drop you off?” he asked.

“Just take me back to the house. I think I’m just going to sit in an air conditioned house, it’s too hot for me out here,” Tobin answered as he slouched in his seat.

With a hum Kliff drove Tobin’s house, his friend falling asleep in his sleep in the passenger seat, as alternative rock played from the stereo. It didn’t take long to get to Tobin’s house, but even as he stopped in front of his house his friend was fast asleep. Apparently, Tobin didn’t get much sleep. He wondered if it was because Gray kept him up all night to play his new game with him that came up.

Kliff rolled his eyes at the thought and shook Tobin awake. The man groaned and unbuckled his seatbelt, and opened the door.

“Thanks for letting me borrow your car today and giving me a ride back. I actually thought you were going to make me walk back home,” said Tobin as he climbed out and leaned into the opening.

“I thought about it.” Kliff shrugged nonchalantly.

Tobin rolled his eyes. “Of course you did. I’ll see you another time.” He closed the door and made his way inside his house.

The editor drove off and made his way across town to his girlfriend’s house. The drive itself was not supposed to be long, but the traffic was what made the trip take almost twenty minutes instead of ten. If he didn’t have the air conditioning in the car he would have threw a fit at the cars in front of him.

Though, he almost set off when someone cut him off and almost hit his front end while doing so.

When Kliff made it to Clair’s family manor he was more than happy to get off the road and away from the crazy drivers on the road. He huffed as he slammed his car door, some people just didn’t know how to drive.

He walked up to the door and unlocked the door, using the key that his girlfriend had given him several months ago. It would have happened sooner if Clive was more willing to let it happen, but Mathilda was a blessing and brought her husband around the idea. It was going to happen anyways, but Clair wanted to at least try to get her brother to come around to make things easier.

The servants paid no mind to Kliff as he walked past them and up the staircase other than to let him know that Clair had just woken up. It was clean and the red carpet looked soft. On the walls were family portraits and paintings, Kliff sighing at the picture of him and Clair on the wall with Clive and Mathilda during her brother’s wedding. At the time, he didn’t want to be in the picture—he wasn’t a guy that enjoyed getting his picture taken—but she had dragged him into it since he ‘was practically part of the family at this point’.

She didn’t take no as answer too much, but at this point he was used to it.

Kliff knocked on the door he stopped at and said, “It’s me.”

“Kliff, wha—don’t—”

He opened the door and walked in.

In the room—the bathroom—sat his girlfriend Clair on the toilet, her blonde hair a mess and shorts pulled down. She was red in the face and covered it as she leaned forward with her knees on her thighs.

He lifted up the plastic shopping bag. “I brought you tampons. You’re out, right?”

Clair looked up and blinked. “How did you know I started?”

“You track yourself on your calendar and I noticed you were out last time I was here.”

She sighed. “And how did you know I was in here?”

He shrugged. “A maid told me you just woke up and you always go to the bathroom when you first wake up.” Kliff took out the box of tampons and held them out to her.

She took it and said, “Thank you, Kliff. Even if this is a bit awkward.”

Kliff gives her a bland look. “I’ve pissed in front of you before.” Then he smirks. “Besides, you’re kind of unbearable to be around when you’re bleeding for almost seven days.”

Clair glared at him and ripped open the box. “Get out so I can stick in my tampon!” she huffed.

With a raise of an eyebrow then a shrug he walked to the door. Before he left he looked over his shoulder and said, “I have chocolate for you when you get done.”

He didn’t miss how she perked up before he closed the door.


	2. Homecoming is Where You Meet Sarcastic Balls of Teenagers

This wasn’t his scene and he cursed his friends for ever dragging him to this waste of time school spirit event. He wanted to be at home, reading a book or playing the MMO on his computer. If he wanted to go out maybe he’d start meeting up with people to play Dungeons and Dragons or Magic: The Gathering, at least it would be something he liked.

Instead, here he was at the homecoming dance, standing against the wall with some punch in his hand. He was not having fun: the music was grating and loud, he could barely stand anyone that wasn’t his friends, and he had to actually sit through a football game before even coming to this atrocity.

Maybe he was just an antisocial mess of a human that needed to stop complaining.

Kliff sipped at his drink as he watched his friends have fun.

Alm danced with his girlfriend, Celica, both of them laughing and staying close together, eyes shining bright with affection and love. He was gentle with her: a hand at the small of her back or brushing over her knuckles before interlacing their fingers, how his eyes hardly ever strayed from her or always softened when she laughed, holding his arm out for her to place her hand in the crook of it so he could lead her to where they wanted to go. He was a true gentleman. His grandfather taught him well.

And the way Celica looked at Alm like he was her knight in shining armor seemed to always make him stand taller. She always seemed to crave his touch and would do so on her own volition, running her hand down his arm or going to hold Alm’s hand. Celica brimmed with happiness and looked to walk on air, with the confidence of a princess, whenever her and Alm shared the same air.

Faye lingered around the two, lips drawn into a frown and eyes holding back tears she refused to shed and hands clenched onto her dress. The more time went by through the night the more her eyes lingered on the floor and her hands trembled.

She’s had a crush on Alm for a long time, an almost obsessive one that could very much turn unhealthy, but it was no surprise that Alm and Celica got together. The two practically promised themselves to each other, but this was the first time that Faye had to see it face-to-face. When Celica moved Faye thought they’d grow apart, you didn’t have to ask her if that was the case with how hopeful she was whenever she tried to do something for him or get closer.

He almost felt bad for her and would have if it wasn’t obvious from the get go that the two lovebirds were never going to let go of each other. Honestly, Kliff only hoped that she got over it and moved on. Maybe learn to not let her life completely revolve around a person and find herself.

Being the good friend that he is Tobin had left Kliff’s side to go stay next to Faye to keep her company. He danced and talked with her, trying all means to distract her from the couple in the room that was breaking her heart and filled her with her jealousy. Tobin almost didn’t come, but was given the day off at work by the luck of the draw. Or a very unfortunate draw, depending on how one looked at it. Tobin mostly came because he knew Kliff didn’t want to and he wanted to keep him company. Plus, he was sure Faye was not going to handle the night well. Sure, the guy was closer to Gray, but Gray was a social butterfly and enjoyed going out unlike Kliff and Faye.

Tobin was more in the middle when it came to going out. He enjoyed every now and then, but it wasn’t something he always enjoyed. Most of the time he worked a lot to help his family out and was more than happy to spend his days off with friends and family or napping all day and watching movies or shows.

Out of all his childhood friends Kliff was closest to Tobin. Faye, probably, may be second on that list.

Did he really need to list his friends from favorite to least favorite? No, but he was kind of an asshole so it came with the guidebook.

When Kliff’s eyes finally landed on Gray after a search around the room he found him dancing with a girl he didn’t know. It wasn’t the first one he danced with tonight and probably wouldn’t be the last. The guy was outgoing and liked to have fun, but he especially liked the ladies. Tonight alone Kliff counted at least six or five different girls he had danced with in between talking to his friends and the snack table.

Honestly, he didn’t know how Gray had the energy, but they were two different people. Very different people.

Taking another drink from his Styrofoam cup Kliff sat down in a chair and drummed his fingers on his knee.

“You should be dancing, that’s what a homecoming dance is for.” The voice was female and articulate, a bit breathless, probably from what she was trying to persuade him to do.

He looked up and found a blonde standing in front of him. Her hair long and done up nicely, makeup light but accentuated her features well, wearing a baby blue dress with thin straps that fell just below her knees. The pair of strappy wedges she wore matched her dress in color. There was some sweat from all the body heat that glistened on her skin that also came from the dancing she was probably doing earlier along with the peoples’ body heat filling the room.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly from activity but there was a smile on her face.

She was very pretty.

And the type of girl that wouldn’t talk to him.

“Do I know you?” he asked, tone bored.

“You’re a friend of Alm’s, right? I think you’re the only one that I haven’t met yet. My name is Clair.” She held her hand out for him to shake.

He sighed and took her hand, giving a single shake before letting go. That explained a lot. Of course she knew Alm. It was one of the only reasons most people even tried to speak to him unless it was Gray or Tobin. “Kliff. Is that all?”

That faltered her smile. It was strained now. “No need to be rude. I’m just trying to make small talk.”

“Yes, because I _obviously_ like socializing and I’m completely _not_ avoiding doing so while I sit here.”

Clair narrowed her eyes on him and placed her hands on her hips. “There is absolutely no need for the sarcasm,” she said, stern but there was a hint of curious surprise.

“You chose to talk to me. You now know that I’m a sarcastic ball of sunshine.”

“Sarcastic ball of—well, that’s an interesting way of putting it.” She looked away in thought. “I still think you should at least dance once tonight. Maybe you won’t be such a stick in the mud.”

“Or an asshole.”

She laughed a little. It surprised him. “You said it, not me.”

“And yet, you’re still here speaking to me. Glutton for punishment, are you?”

Her smile brightened and her eyes shone mischievously as she sat down next to him. “Quite good at tongue lashing, aren’t you?”

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “You leaving anytime soon?”

“I don’t know, depends on what else you can do with that tongue of yours.” She gave a sly smile. “How talented are you, Kliff?”

Kliff pulled back, sitting ramrod straight, and blinked. He flushed, the heat crawling up his neck and to his face, coloring them. He…was not expecting this at all.

Was she flirting with him?

The only way he knew how to handle the turn of events. “Go off and dance with some pretty boys or something.”

“Dance with me at least once and I’ll leave you alone,” she countered.

Clair stood to her feet and stared down at him, waiting. He tried ignoring her, but after standing there and making comments back and forth to each other and her declining each offer to dance for three songs he finally sighed.

She won and he danced with her.

And dammit it all, she got more than one dance out of him and they snarked at each other. She was quick to retaliate to his comments and he refuses to admit that it made things more bearable for the rest of the night.

She didn’t need to know and he didn’t need to admit it.

But she did laugh at her win.


	3. Are We Really Killing Frogs and Being Their Surgeons?

When Kliff entered his biology class on a Tuesday morning and took in the room he didn’t expect to see a double student upgrade or two teachers. His lips smoothed into a thin line as he narrowed his eyes at the older students. He recognized some of them from the homecoming nightmare he was dragged to, he especially recognized the blonde senior he had danced with.

It was hard to forget her, she had a strong personality. Plus, it didn’t help that Gray was upset and whined about him getting to dance and talk with her but Gray didn’t get to receive the chance. Kliff was half tempted to go to his house and set his clothes on fire in his backyard.

She saw him and winked, smiling. He stared at her for a moment then turned to take his seat next to Genny, the classmate he got stuck with on projects because they sat at the same table.

His classmate glanced up at him and murmured, “Good morning.”

“Morning,” he greeted back as he sat and rummaged through his bag.

After that she went back to writing in her notebook and continued getting his stuff out for the class. They didn’t know each other, but they were both quiet and they respected each other’s space. It was better than some people in the class and it was why he couldn’t stand the majority of them.

Up front, the two teachers were talking between each other quietly until the bell rang. Once the bell rang for class to begin their biology teacher beamed at them and clapped her hands together.

Kliff made a face. He knew what that meant. He’s only in the beginning of his freshman year and he already knew what each gesture meant by her. She had a surprise and it probably had something to do with the extra new faces in the room.

He was pretty sure this was going to be like a car wreck.

“Class, we’re going to do something new and exciting today. I’m sure you’ve heard about this from older students, which is why we have a few that had graduated from the class for this assignment.” She smiled brightly and practically buzzed from excitement, more excitement than everyone else in the room. “We’re dissecting frogs!”

That perked the class up; some brightening up and excited and the other half groaning or turning green. When Kliff glanced at the blonde senior that had forced him to dance was not looking particularly fond of the idea, turning a little green and nervous.

Next to him, Genny was still writing and only paying basic attention to anything that she had to know. She scrunched up her face, but mostly indifferent about the idea of cutting up frogs. Good, she was his partner and even he didn’t want to do everything.

“Each set of partners will get one of their senior classmates to assist them. This is extra credit for them and they can only assist, not DO the assignment, remember that.” She held up a small box and shook it. “They’ll draw the table number they’ll be helping.”

The older teacher next to his gave a nod to the box as he looked at his own students. “Pick your number then get started.” He looked across Kliff’s class over the rim of his glasses. “Come to the front and grab your assignment sheet then use that to get your equipment ready to start.” He pointed to the counter to the left of the classroom. “Equipment on the counter.”

Straight to the point he was. That was going to be fun to deal with next year if he got him. At least he didn’t beat around the bush.

Kliff got up with the rest of the class, Genny following his lead a moment later, and went to get everything. Most of his classmates talked and joked, lingering as they took their time. After only a minute or two Kliff was already getting fed up and huffed.

“Would you move? Some of us want to get started and get this over with,” said Kliff, tone annoyed and voice tight as he crossed his arms and narrowing his eyes.

Eventually, the class made it back to their seats, Genny already back at their table with a couple things. Next to her was none other than the blonde senior that he couldn’t seem to get away from. At this point, he’s just going to have to accept his fate.

He sighed then went to grab a frog from the bucket at the front and when he came back to the table he dropped the frog in front of Clair and onto the table. She yelped and scooted back in her chair, nose scrunched up and eyes wide, face turning green. She shifted her wary and disgruntled gaze to lift them and narrow her brown eyes on him.

Kliff lifted an eyebrow at her. “You look green around the gills, think you can handle this?” he said. He handed a pair of gloves to Genny.

“Just…get started.” Clair ordered weakly, glancing back to Genny who was carefully and daintily dealing with the frog on the tray. She frowned, scooting away as indiscreetly as possible.

It almost made him laugh and he was half tempted to because, really, this wasn’t a surprise with how Clair carried herself. She was not going to handle this well the longer the class continued. However, he also needed to pass the assignment, so he’ll just focus on what he needed to do.

As the class continued it became more and more evident that their senior helper was not going to move from neither her seat nor any closer the more that he and Genny cut into the amphibian. Even Genny, who is visibly uncomfortable and practically shaking and almost near tears, was doing the assignment. If that poor girl can get through this then Clair could put on her big girl panties and assist them.

The whole thing was irritating him and he was fed up. “Are you just going to sit there or are you actually going to earn your extra credit?” Kliff said in agitation, glaring at the older girl.

She glanced at him, eyes narrowed. “You two are doing fine on your own, I don’t think you need my help.”

“You could help me while Genny takes a break instead of avoiding the whole thing.” He turned to Genny and said, “You want to take a break?”

Genny looked up, opened her mouth then closed it and looked back down at the table. “I’m fine,” she answered quietly, going back to work.

Kliff turned back to the blonde.

Clair gave a smug look. “See, she’s fine. Continue on.” Then she went on to play on her phone.

Oh, it’s funny that she thinks she can behave like a little princess with him and get away with it.

He saw his partner sway on her feet and tears gather in her eyes then sit down for a moment to gather herself from the corner of his eyes. At least his partner was handling this better than some of his other classmates, a few here or there turning green and getting acquainted with a trashcan or loudly complaining. He didn’t mind giving her break because of her trying so hard to do the work.

Their senior assistant, however, was not being as helpful as her own fellow classmates, only avoiding it as much as possible.

Kliff was more than happy to let his frustration be known.

Without much thought, he unpinned the frog and held it before he dropped it onto Clair’s lap. Clair screamed and jumped to her feet, the chair scraping and falling back onto the floor and catching the attention of the whole class and teachers. One of the frog’s organs slowly slid down her shirt, leaving a thin trail of blood as it went.

She whirled to him, eyes blazing. “How dare you?” she demanded, poking at his chest.

Kliff crossed his arms and said, “Yes, how dare I set a princess straight and force her to do her extra credit assignment.” He rolled his eyes.

Before Clair could retort back another voice spoke up over the class and the whispers that had started around them. “Kliff! That is unacceptable behavior!” said his teacher.

The other teacher stared down Clair, making her shrink back and look away. Her teacher looked down at her hand then back and said, “If you won’t work for your extra credit then you can leave and receive a failing grade for the day. And if I see your phone out again I will take it away.”

“And, Kliff, I will see you after class,” his teacher added.

Both Kliff and Clair glared at each other.

Clair ended up leaving the class to spend the rest of it in the hall or office while Kliff got detention for two days. Both freshmen got a passing grade on their assignment, but Genny was a few points higher for his teacher to prove a point.


	4. This Crush Thing Sucks, Especially When the Boy You Like Likes Another Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A double update for missing my last Saturday. Hopefully this'll be the last time that I need to stress over it, but that also depends on weather conditions since I have to drive to internet access. Anyways, enjoy.

Everything she did she tried to do with grace and style and with her head held high, but sometimes she wasn’t always so successful on that. Even days later Clair still felt insulted and annoyed by the freshman named Kliff. She liked him, she really did, because he was one of the few that held nothing back in what he said and not many did that with her. However, the boy was also someone that made her want to scream in frustration.

An interesting guy but nonetheless frustrating to still deal with when not prepared to handle any surprises Kliff might throw at you. Clair was more than willing to do the same.

She curled a lock of blonde around her finger, playing with it, and gave a small smile to herself in thought. At least the freshman kept things interesting.

“What are you thinking about, Clair? You’re smiling, so it’s got to be good,” asked Alm, tilting his head as he stopped walking to look at her.

The rest of the group stopped to look at her, waiting to continue to meet up with the rest. Clair flushed and gave Alm a sweet smile, her eyes glancing behind to see Kliff, Faye, and Tobin ahead, talking, before keeping to her green haired friend. Gray stood next to Alm.

“Oh, nothing special, just a food for thought. Now, come, we’re going to be late meeting your Celica if we don’t get a move on,” she said, putting a smile on her face when all she felt was a little pang in the chest at the words passing her lips.

The brightening of his smile and the twinkle in his eyes at the mere mention of his girlfriend’s name hurt. Yet, she knew it made him happy and she would be okay. Her crush on him was a budding thing that got smothered out after the realization of nothing coming from it. It hurt, but it wasn’t something that was all consuming for her. Faye, the poor girl, was not so lucky with her feelings.

“Okay, as long as you’re good?” he agreed with a slight question in his tone.

“Of course, now walk, mister!” she said with a laugh.

Gray smiled and put his hands on Alm’s shoulders. “You heard the lady, let’s get going,” said her fellow senior as he physically turned his friend and pushed him to start walking. He looked back at her with a smile. She followed after them till she was beside them again.

The rest of the group continued onward, chattering, and it didn’t take long for them to reach their destination.

Sitting on the benches and standing around them were Celica and her friends, waiting for the rest of them. Genny she was familiar with after that science class fiasco. The other two—a dark skinned boy with blond white hair and a bubbly girl with pink hair in pigtails—she wasn’t as familiar with and seeing how the two were loudly arguing she was sure if they went to their school she would’ve heard of them.

“You can be such a party pooper! At least I like to have fun,” said the pink haired girl with a roll of her eyes.

The dark skinned boy only crossed his arms and gave her a deadpanned look. “The last time I went with you I regretted every decision I made in my life.”

“That’s because you have no appreciation for horror, you little scaredy-cat,” she huffed then turned to Celica. “You’ll go with me, right, Celica?”

Celica laughed and said, “I’d love to Mae. I had fun the last time we went.”

The other girl cheered and hugged her friend. “At least someone knows how to have fun.” She stuck her tongue out to the one she was arguing with, only getting an eye roll in return.

Genny sat there quietly, smiling shyly but seemingly happy.

Clair watched as Alm went over to Celica and kissed her on the cheek and Gray and Tobin going to greet her as well. She noticed that Kliff stayed back with Faye. There was a short greeting between the two science partners from where they stood with their friends, but that was about it.

It was interesting that even though Kliff grew up with Celica as well that he wasn’t eager to greet her like the rest of his friends aside Faye. It was understandable with her considering her strong feelings for the boy she grew up with. From what she heard Faye had confessed to Alm only to get rejected and find out that he was already seeing someone and that it was the girl she’d been competing with her whole life. Kliff, though, had no reason to stand back.

Then again, she’s spoken to the freshman and from the interactions they’ve had he was not a people person and preferred being by himself. It probably wouldn’t be much different today, honestly.

With how unapologetic he was towards her about the frog incident today would be a perfectly acceptable time to grate his nerves with her presence. It would also take her attention from the pangs of watching Alm be happy with someone else. Her feelings may not have been as strong as Faye’s, but they were still there.

As their large group of gathered friends discussed what they wanted to do first Clair made her way next to the little brat of Alm’s friends. He looked at her, lips pursed, but then turned to ignore her and continue his conversation with Genny.

Now, that just wouldn’t do. Clair linked their arms and pressed in close to him, smiling, feeling him tense up. She would not be ignored. He looked at her, his face pinched and a frown adorning his lips, body still tense.

The other girl looked between the two of them a couple times then tilted her head in thought before giving a small giggle.

Kliff glared at her next and she looked away with a smile. Clair giggled lightly as well and didn’t bother hiding her smile.

His body was still stiff, but he only sighed and said, “Can you not?”

“I think you owe me for the incident we had in your class. If you want me out of hair and personal space then you’ll promise to entertain me for the day,” she said.

Kliff sighed and looked away. He was quiet for a moment and she took the time to look around at their group. They weren’t paid much mind to and the others were discussing what they were going to do while out today.

“If,” he began and she brought her attention back to him, “it gets you off my back I’ll pay for your meal, but that’s it.” He tugged his arm in her hold. “Now, let go.”

She smiled and let go, putting her hands behind her back. “Splendid!”

He scrunched his nose and mumbled, “I regret this decision already…”

When they all finally decided on what to do they all trailed into the mall, talking and laughing as they did. Clair smiled and walked up to Alm and Celica, really wanting to get to know the girl. She was a nice girl and the way that she looked at Alm like he was her knight made her smile. The way he looked at her like she was his queen was dream worthy. It was obvious that they were in love and Clair was content to see him be happy.

Behind her she heard Kliff talking, tone annoyed, followed by who she believed to be Tobin speaking. He just let Kliff’s sharp retorts roll off his shoulders and shrug it off easily with a laugh. They seemed close and she was glad to know that he was close to someone at least.

First they went to a clothing store, the guys and girls separating to look around. Clair picked out an outfit, a skirt and blouse ensemble, and held it up to Celica. “This would look wonderful on you! Try it on.”

Celica blushed and held it up to herself, feeling the fabric between her fingers. “You think so?” she asked tentatively.

Mae squealed and nodded enthusiastically, shaking her best friend’s arm. “Oh my gosh, it’s so cute! Go try it on!”

Mae pushed Celica towards the dressing room and closed the door on her, leaving the poor girl standing there with a dumbfounded expression. Clair laughed and picked out a couple more outfits, one for her and another for the pink haired girl. Genny she took her time picking something for because she was a bit more modest than the rest of the girls in how she dressed. Faye stayed out of it and said that she was going to get a pretzel before leaving.

As soon as all of them had an outfit or two they all headed to the dressing rooms. From nearby the blonde heard a groan and one of the boys voicing their opinion on the matter, “Oh, god…”

But Clair noticed before shutting the door to her dressing room that none of the boys tried to leave. Though, she was pretty sure that Kliff will probably be gone just because he never let someone hold him back from doing what he wanted to do.

The outfit she picked was a cute light blue dress; it had thin straps on the shoulders with sleeves that fell off the shoulders. The dress reached her mid-thigh and when she swirled around in front of the mirror in her dressing room the dress lifted and flowed. She smiled. She might have a pair of wedges or gladiator sandals at home that would match this perfectly. A pair of boots would also work nicely.

All the girls came out of the room and when they saw each other they gushed over the other’s outfits.

Alm came over and complimented Celica, saying she looked beautiful. If it was any other seventeen year old guy it would be hard to believe, but Alm was always sincere. A bit old fashioned as well. It was why she was attracted to him and probably one of the many reasons that Celica loved him.

Celica blushed at the compliment and got a bit shy, a small giggle escaping her. Her friend nudged her and winked, teasing.

Gray looked at Clair, taking in her appearance, but didn’t get the chance to say anything before Tobin spoke up. “You all look very nice, but I just wanted to let you know we already lost another member of the group,” said Tobin.

Ah. Well, Clair was right at least.

They checked out of the store, Clair buying the girls their new outfits, as they set forth to go in search of their two group members. Mae rode on Gray’s back, laughing while Boey rolled his eyes and followed behind to make sure if she fell he’d be able to catch her. Alm and Celica were holding hands as they walked and Tobin walked with Genny to keep her company; Clair walked beside Alm and Celica.

It didn’t take long to find Faye. Apparently, she was at F.Y.E. looking at DVDs. It took a couple stores to find her, but when they did it was in the section with TV shows. In her hands was a Blu-Ray box set of what Clair thinks is Game of Thrones. That was a show that Clair was only familiar with by hearsay, she had no interest in watching it with all the violence that was in it.

She was starting to think that Alm’s childhood friend had a violent streak in her that she should stay out of the way of.

“Is that the newest season?” asked Gray, setting the pink haired girl down and going to look at the set over his friend’s shoulder.

“Mhm.” She pursed her lips. “I can’t afford it right now, so I’ll have to get it later.” Faye set back on the shelf then picked up another box set of another show. “Penny Dreadful is on sale though, so I might get that.”

“That’ll be good for October,” Tobin added after a thought as he took in the case’s image.

Boey licked his lips before asking, “Do…do you always watch things in the horror genre for October?”

Gray shrugged. “Faye usually watches horror movies or shows all October while Kliff reads in that genre. We all do have a horror movie night though for one night that month. Clair has yet to experience that with us.” He grinned at her. “You going to this year?”

She highly doubted it. Horror was not a genre she cared for and she doubted she was going to torture herself just to be around her friends. Having nightmares for a week was not the most appealing thing in the world.

Looking at Boey and seeing how tense he was she could tell he felt the same. Maybe even more so than her.

“Hey, guys?” said Tobin. Everyone looked to the brunet and he looked up from his phone with a sigh. “Kliff went home. He just texted me that he made it there.”

Clair frowned.

Alm’s friends weren’t surprised, but Celica’s were. “Does this happen often?” asked Mae.

A shrug from Tobin. “Yeah, sometimes. He’s not much of a crowd guy. You get used to it.”

“And I thought Boey was bad.”

“HEY!”

Well, looks like she’ll have to she’ll have to get back at him later. Why was she so surprised that he left the whole area instead of assuming that he just went somewhere quieter? Faye and Tobin seemed even less surprised than the other two. It did seem like the two were closer to Kliff than the other two were, maybe that’s why.

Either way—she looked at the linked hands of the only couple in the room and then shifted her eyes away—he was going to do more than a meal with her for this. Leaving her here to her emotions. So far she was doing alright, but that could change any time, emotions were such fickle things.

She took a breath and looked away after realizing her eyes strayed back to the linked hands.

Oh, yes, she was going to blame Kliff.


	5. In Which Tobin Wants to Bang His Head Against a Brick Wall and Kliff Actually Feels Bad For the Fop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story isn't getting much action, but that's okay. I'm not known for finishing or getting very far in my fics before dropping it, so I understand, my dudes. It's all good.
> 
> I'm not very happy with this chapter, but it's going to be a few chapters before things pick up for me as the writer, so whatever, right?
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

It was midafternoon when Kliff heard his doorbell ring. His mom wasn’t home because of work and wouldn’t be home for another few hours. He wasn’t expecting anyone and his mom never forgets her keys, and all the people that used to come for his dad no longer came around since he was gone. Really, Kliff wanted to ignore it, so he put his headphones back on to do so.

Then there was another ring, a repeated one that happened three times in a row. With a sigh he logged out and stood up. He made his way down the hall and when he looked into the peep hole he leaned back with furrowed brows.

On the other side of the door stood Tobin tapping his foot and biting his bottom lip, tense He was wearing a light hoodie and had his hands stuffed into his front pocket. The sky was overcast with gray clouds and it was supposed to be a cool day for early October. He’s been spending his day inside on the computer playing his game, so he only knew from what the news said.

But that didn’t explain why he was seeing his friend here. What was he doing here?

Just as another ringing of the doorbell he pulled open the door and glowered at him. “What?”

“Soooo,” started Tobin, lifting his eyes to meet Kliff’s, “I need someone to talk to.”

Kliff crossed his arms. “And you didn’t go to Gray because?”

“It’s…about him,” he answered, “Can we talk inside now?”

Kliff sighed and stepped away from the entrance to let his friend in. Tobin walked in and the younger one shut the door behind the brunet. It wasn’t the way he wanted to continue his day, but the freshman led the junior to his living room, to the couch where they took a seat on each end.

Kliff turned slightly towards the brunet, his back against the arm of the couch and one leg lying bent on the couch. “So?”

“I have a crush on Gray—”

“You have since middle school,” Kliff said, interrupting is friend.

And it was true. It was obvious to Kliff that his friend had a crush on their laidback dark skinned friend. Maybe the reason he found it obvious was because of how close the two of them were. Luckily, when the crush thing happened it was long after the realization of Tobin’s sexuality and romantic interests. He was by his friend’s side and helped him come to terms with it and eventually Tobin was good.

The Gray thing, though? That started up a whole new thing with Tobin. The other teenager hid it well, unlike Faye with her own feelings, but because of Kliff knowing him better than most was able to tell when he had just watched Gray with another girl. Or when he watched the two interact and when Gray was talking about a girl he was interested in and watch the hint of sadness that was hidden behind his eyes. It was something he knew he’d have to hear about from Tobin eventually.

In all honesty, Kliff was hoping that Tobin’s feelings would have left and he would have moved on, whether to someone else or not. For his sake. Obviously, that didn’t happen or work out.

His eyes shot up to the freshman, then just sighed. “I should have known that you would know…”

“This isn’t a revelation, so why are you freaking out? You did your freaking out about liking boys years ago.”

“I kissed him, though!” Tobin blurted out. Then he turned red and buried his face in his hands.

That made Kliff pause and blink. Oh. Well, that would definitely be a legitimate reason to freak out. As far as both of them know Gray was straight as a board. “Maybe you should go to Alm for this.”

“No, no way, man!” Tobin disagreed, looking at him like he was crazy. “Maybe if he wasn’t close to Gray too, then I’d think about it, but you don’t spend as much time with Gray as Alm does. I don’t want to put Alm in the middle of this.”

Kliff sighed. “So, I get stuck with it.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Fine. Then what was his reaction?”

Tobin was quiet for a moment, thinking back on it and his face getting more and more red as time went by. That had the younger teen furrowing his eyebrows. When the older teen finally spoke it he sounded embarrassed and even confused, “You know Gray, he goes with the flow…” He cleared his throat. “When we broke apart he leant away from me, confused, and then just stared at me.”

“Was it a quiet, internal freak out then?” Kliff asked.

He shook his head then shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure. I didn’t stick around.” He cleared his throat. “I kind of ran out before he could say anything and made it all the way here.”

The look that Kliff gave him made Tobin bury his face back into his hands to hide, flushing in embarrassment. A buzzing sounded and Tobin jumped at the sound while Kliff just looked at him. When Tobin took his phone out, tense, and looked at the phone. Suddenly, his shoulders relaxed and he typed out a response and put the phone back in his pocket.

The older teen sighed and leaned back against the couch. “He hasn't contacted me about it. That was Mom saying that she needed me home tonight to watch my siblings while she worked.”

He nodded and thought about his game on the computer in his room. He might get back to it tonight after all. First, he should be a decent friend that the guy needs. “Do you know what you’re going to do about the Gray thing?” Kliff asked.

“I’m going to play it safe and see if Gray brings it up.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

Tobin wrung his hands together. “Then…I’ll probably tell him the truth.”

Kliff nodded and stood up. “Your mom works third shift, right? Want to watch a movie before you leave? Mom’ll be home soon and you can get a ride from her and eat with us.”

The smile he gave Kliff was one of relief and thankfulness. “Does this mean I get to pick the movie since you feel bad for me?” he asked teasingly.

Kliff rolled his eyes. “I suppose I could tolerate a movie you pick.”

As Tobin picked the movie and put it in the younger teen got comfortable on the couch and the older teen slouched on the couch next to him. The movie began and Kliff was glad to know that instead of picking the usual type of movie that he liked he picked one of Kliff’s favorite movies, the first Lord of the Rings. Not that Tobin didn’t like the movie, but Kliff was more into fantasy and sci-fi media than he was.

He knew that the guy only did it because he knew he put Kliff in an awkward spot with coming to him with something he was not the most comfrtoable with.

When the Shire appeared on the screen Tobin glanced at him and smiled, taking his ankle into his hand and giving it a slight squeeze, said, “Thanks.”

Kliff shrugged. “Sure”

Tobin gave one last squeeze of the younger teen’s ankle then let go. They spent the rest of the time watching the movie before the matriarch came home from work.


	6. The Library is Where You Make Nice and Quiet Friends with Classmates

Kliff was more than a little tired as he made his way to the local library, but his mother wanted him to pick up her book that came. She’d been waiting on the waiting list since it came out a couple weeks ago and she didn’t want to risk the librarians going to the next person on the list. It was mostly because she wanted the book as soon as possible for her women’s book club and to have the book in her hands to read.

He couldn’t say too much, though, because when he wasn’t on his game he was reading. He could honestly say that he got it from both his parents, his mother on the reading and enjoyment of books and his father, when he was alive, on the games. The two of them practically made him to be a natural hermit; the only thing stopping it completely was his friends.

If he had a choice, Kliff would be more than happy to live in the middle of nowhere by himself.

Once in the library he made his way to the circulation desk where a dark redheaded man sat reading. “Lukas,” he said in lieu of greeting.

He knew Lukas because of Alm and the fact that Lukas is a tutor for middle school and high school students while also attending university. He worked at the library part-time and could be found with his head in a book. He used to tutor Kliff and the rest of his friends, still did on occasion, while in middle school. Lukas was a good man and always calm. Kliff didn’t mind him, he was very unobtrusive when it came to others.

The man looked up, marking his place in his book, and gave a calm smile. “Ah, Kliff, good afternoon. Your mother sent you today?”

“She did. She’s at work, got called in.” He dug out his wallet to take out his mother’s library card that was hidden behind his own.

Lukas stood up with a hum and turned to the shelf housing the books on the waiting list. It barely took a moment before he found the book and began the checkout process. “How are you, Kliff? High school going well?” he asked.

Kliff made a face. “It’s high school,” was his simple answer. That answer in itself pretty much implied everything that all knew about high school. Some people hated it, some people love it, but one thing that both had in common was that neither types forgot the experience.

The librarian gave a light laugh, taking the library and scanning it and handing it back. “Well, hopefully at least your studies go well.” Lukas put the receipt with the date on it inside the book and handed it the teenager. “Tell your mother I said ‘hi’.”

The teenager nodded. “Alright.” He took the book and let him get back to work. There wasn’t anything else he needed to do while he was in the library or that he wanted to get, but he took a glance around anyways.

What he didn’t expect to see was his biology partner sitting in one of the corners of the library, a laptop in front of her and a couple of books opened on the table around her. There were a couple spiral notebooks, one opened and the other closed, and a composition notebook that she glanced and wrote in every now and then.

For a moment, Kliff debated on whether he wanted to go over to her or not, but then he remembered their conversation when they were at the mall, before he left. She wrote and loved to read and that was the majority of what they had in common and what their conversations consisted of if it wasn’t school.

And she did ask him if he’d help edit and beta read her works.

With a shrug, he placed his mother’s book under his arm and walked over to Genny. She looked up at him when he reached her table. He expected her to shy away from him, but she smiled and just went back to typing on her laptop. Well, they were past that stage of her shyness he supposed. They’ve talked often enough in class and school to get the tension out of the air between them.

He’s also pretty sure that him agreeing to beta read and help edit her books got the ball rolling, along with their book talks and discussions on world building. Kliff wouldn’t complain, it made things smoother and less annoying.

Kliff pulled out the chair in front of him and took a seat, crossing his legs and setting the book next to him. “Researching for your book?” he asked, eying the contents he could see of the open books on her side of the table.

“Yeah, just a little bit before I start my new novel.” She looked up over her laptop. “You know, the one I told you about yesterday?”

He took a moment to think about it then remembered the conversation they had at lunch. “Ah, that one. I thought you had most of it thought out?”

“I do, but there were a couple things I wanted to look into before I made a final decision on them. I do have the first scene written out for the first chapter, though.” She perked up, excitement and confidence building her up. “I just couldn’t wait to start it, it’s just so exciting.”

As much as he wanted to hold it back the smile came to his lips at seeing the excitement. He could relate, in a way. Building her world and characters for her story was like when he made his characters for his games or built his characters from the ground up for his D&D group. Creating something was always something very intimate, no matter what it was. Kliff nodded. “What about that novella you wrote? Did you want me to look at that?”

A light blush crept its way onto her cheeks, but a mischievous smile also twitched at her lips. “You won’t want to read that.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“Remember when I told you that I write a few different genres?” she asked, sitting back and fidgeting with her necklace.

“Yes,” he answered slowly.

She bit her lip. “Well, one of the other genres I write is erotic romance.”

Both of Kliff’s eyebrows raised into his hairline and he stared at her in disbelief. That was not one of the genres he expected from her, not at all. “What do you know about that sort of thing?”

She just smiled a secretive smile, eyes shining in a way that seemed more knowing than the way she looked. It made Kliff clear his throat and look away, feeling heat creep up his neck.

“Anyways,” she leaned forward to look over one of the open books on the table, “I’m almost done with the research and I got a couple ideas for the world and story that I’d like to run by you, if you didn’t mind?”

Kliff appreciated the change in topic and clung to it. “Yeah, sure.”

It was that day that he knew there was more to Genny than he saw of her and he had a feeling that he was going to know more in the future than he really wanted. Just like how it was with Tobin and Faye.

He wasn’t sure if he should dread it or just accept his fate at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of like this whole Kliff and Genny friendship thing I got going in here. I also just have a soft spot for these two, they don't get enough attention.


	7. Going to a Party is a Bad Idea, Why Did They Think it Was a Good Idea Again?

By the time they made it to the large house the party was already going strong. Kliff only wanted to go home and blamed Gray for making all of them into this mess. He looked over to Clair and could see the excitement in her. His eyes took her in then turned his attention elsewhere. They land on Tobin and he notices how the other teen isn’t standing as close to his crush and was glancing at him, staying close to Faye instead.

He looked over to Alm and saw that the teen was nervous. Well, he’s about as excited about this as Kliff was. And wasn’t really high.

Even Faye didn’t want to be here, but that wasn’t a surprise. She wasn’t a very sociable person. Kind of like him! It’s no wonder they get along.

A shout grabbed his attention, a miracle considering how loud the music was, and saw one college guy falling over and landing on his face in the grass. A handful of guys were laughing at him and the other dude was laughing as well until he puked all over the grass.

There were people going around and some of them were going around in their bathing suits, guys in swim trunks and girls in bikinis, alcohol in their hands. Kliff was sure that some people were smoking pot somewhere or having sex in spare rooms. It was definitely a college party.

And Kliff was not impressed.

There was a grin on Gray’s face, excitement evident. “C’mon, guys, this is going to be a blast!”

“Gray, maybe we should go?” suggested Alm, pursing his lips.

“No way, man! It’ll be fun,” said Gray, hooking his arm over his shoulder and bringing him in with a laugh.

“Come now, Alm, we’ll stay for a few hours and leave by the time midnight comes,” said Clair, “if it makes you feel better.”

Alm gave a nervous smile and said, “Well, alright, as long as we leave by midnight.”

Gray cheered. “That’s my boy! Let’s party!”

The way into the house was led by Gray and Clair, both excited, followed closely by Alm that felt the need to keep an eye on them. Honestly, the freshman was surprised that the blonde senior was so into the idea of going to a party.

Kliff had a feeling this was going to be a disaster. He looked over to Faye next to him.

She looked at him, Tobin on her other side a few steps ahead, and whispered, “Are you going to leave before then?”

Kliff didn’t even have to think about it when he answered, “Most likely.”

She nodded and laced her hands behind her back as she walked, “Let me know when you do, I’ll go with you.”

He looked at her. “I’m afraid to ask, but are you okay?”

Faye looked down, pursing her lips. “I…just rather be home. I’m not one for parties.”

“I understand that.” He was pretty sure that a part of it was because she was still in the mode of wanting to be to herself, still hurt and trying to get over her feelings for Alm after being turned down and constantly seeing Celica with him. She didn’t want to say it, but he knew, they were childhood friends too. “I’ll do that, just don’t go far because I’m not searching for you when I want to leave.”

“I’ll stick by you then,” she said with a grateful smile.

Tobin looked back at them, gave a nod, then continued onward. The baton has been passed; it was up to Kliff tonight to watch out for their female friend. Wonderful.

The inside of the house was loud and Kliff could feel the vibrations going through his body and he didn’t care for the people that were crowding together in what looked like the living room. Someone ran past, bumping into him and causing him to almost fall if not for Faye grabbing onto him and helping to steady him. For a moment she hesitated until she bit the bullet and hooked her arm with his.

Usually he’d say a biting comment at anybody that would get into his personal space, but if he had to choose between her and some random stranger getting into his space he’d take her. Or Tobin. Or Alm. Clair might even be somewhere on that list and he barely knew her. Gray depended on his mood.

If Genny was there she’d be his third option after Tobin, easy.

Gray high fived one of the guys that walked by and went to grab a drink from where he assumed was the direction of the kitchen. Clair dragged Alm to go dance with her as he tried to talk himself out of it.

Kliff felt for the junior, she’s done the same with him.

A couple that was making out, swapping spit, dancing with their tongues, whatever you want to call it nearly barreled into the two teenagers linked together, but the two moved in time to avoid the couple. They watched as the couple fell against the wall, their hands roaming everywhere and going underneath clothes, but still moving towards the direction of the stairs.

Faye led him away and to the direction of the exit. He was with her on that mindset. Getting the hell was a great idea.

A large man stood in front of them, stopping their progress towards the exit. “Hey, pretty girl, want to be my lady luck tonight?” he asked, touching her shoulder. His eyes were glassy and he swayed a little.

The guy’s hand ran up to her neck as he moved closer to her and pushing Kliff away. He didn’t even get to say anything before Faye saw red and punched a guy nearly twice his size in the crotch full force.

Kliff winced as he watched it happen and the guy howled in pain, falling to his knees and covering his crotch. She took his hand and stomped out with him following behind. The few people that saw what happened gave them space to leave.

Once out the door on the sidewalk she let go and they just made their way back to the way they came there from. They were quiet as they walked.

A few blocks into their walk she asked, “Do you want to marathon season seven of Game of Thrones?”

“I’ll let my mom know that I’m staying the night,” he answered taking out his cell phone and starting his text.

 

 

 

Clair was sweating and a bit on the tipsy side. She lost Alm, but found Gray playing beer pong with the other university students. She went to go cheer him on and he gave a dopey smile when he saw her cheering for him. Later she’d look for their green haired friend, but right she found this one.

He got the ball into another cup and she cheered along with him. The game continued and each player was staggering more and more on their feet, both looking a bit green. Gray was in the middle of another drink when his cheeks suddenly puffed out and he bent over the side and puked all over the floor.

On the other side of the table there were cheers and Clair winced and made a face at the mess he made. She debated on going to him or not as another game commenced between another set of people, and decided that even though it put her off she went up to him and rubbed his back. He gave a miserable groan as he heaved again.

When he finally got a hold of himself she led him to the kitchen where she got them both a glass of water to hopefully help them sober up. She sipped her water and looked up at the wall and saw the clock and the time.

“It’s past midnight, we should probably find Alm,” noted the blonde.

Gray got himself more water from the faucet at the sink and took another deep drink. “Ugh, I’m not sure I can even walk right.”

“Alm and Tobin will help you,” she said, finishing her water.

He straightened up and looked around then at her. “Where is Tobin?”

Clair frowned. “I don’t know. I think Alm went to find him, possibly?”

He took a step forward with a hand to his forehead, groaning. He swayed on his feet and tripped from being unable to lift his foot properly from the floor and fell onto Clair. She wasn’t able to catch herself or help him not fall to the ground so they both landed on the ground, Gray on top of her. There was a squeeze on her breast and she gasped and Gray’s eyes widened and he immediately pulled his hand away.

Clair slapped him and a strong male voice shouted her name, “CLAIR!”

It suddenly got very quiet in the house and there were running footsteps as the two teenagers scrambled away from each other and got to their feet. They turned to the voice and standing there, glaring, was none other than Clair’s older brother.

“Clive!” she yelped in surprise, eyes widening.

“Oh shit,”said Gray stepping further away from the blonde and seeing his life flash before his eyes.

She knew the feeling, she was pretty sure she might only see the light of day when she went to school.

Coming to stand next to her brother was his wife and her sister-in-law Mathilda, followed by Tobin and Alm behind her. Alm looked embarrassed and nervous while Tobin was a bit on the disheveled side and blushing. The blonde senior noticed that the brunet’s lips were kiss swollen and there was a glimpse of a hickey just barely showing below his shirt and assumed that he must have gotten lucky with one of the girls here.

Next to her Gray’s eyes locked onto his brunet friend and frowned.

Then Clive said the one thing that had her shrinking into herself a bit. “I’m very disappointed in you, Clair. I expected better.”

Clair wanted to hide in a hole and never come out.

Clive turned to Gray. “And I expect you to never put your hands on Clair inappropriately again, do you hear me, young man?”

“Yes, sir!” Gray squeaked out, straightening up.

Mathilda put a strong but delicate hand on her husband’s shoulder and said, “Now, love, let’s take them home. I’m sure their parents would love to know what went on tonight.”

There was nothing but fear in the boys that the blonde senior came to the party with. She couldn’t blame them.

But then she realized that there were two people missing from their group. It didn’t take her long to realize that both missing members of the group had probably left early on.

Of course they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how Kliff is like 'nope, not today' and booked it with Faye and of course the two of them like Game of Thrones (the whole group does, honestly). Marathoning Game of Thrones is definitely a better way to spend a night than a party.
> 
> And poor Gray is lucky he didn't lose a hand.


	8. Faye Gets a New Crush and She Doesn’t Know How to Deal With It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, it's been awhile, huh? We're back to regular updates now, isn't that great? Since my seasonal job is done until next year it's just my regular one now, so updates will be back every Saturday. As long as everything goes right.
> 
> It may be a little stiff for a while since I haven't written anything for this for some time, so bear with me. A few chapters and I'll probably be back in the groove. Maybe.

Kliff rolled his eyes as he typed back on his phone. He sighed.

 _I’ll be right there. Give me 15. –_ Kliff

Setting his phone into his jacket pocket he pulled it onto his shoulders as he walked to the kitchen. At the counter was his mother making coffee and snacking on graham crackers as she waited. It was her day off and she was not getting dressed for anybody; it was going to be a nightgown and slippers day. If he was going to be honest, Kliff had to admit that he wished that was him today.

But no, he had to go be a friend. Being a hermit looked better more and more each day. Sometimes his friends have too many crises.

“Mom, I’m going out,” he said.

She looked over her shoulder, did a quick once over, then went back to her crackers. “Take care, be home by dinner.”

He waved at her and turned to walk out.

“Oh, honey, if you see Tobin or Faye let them know that the book club is cancelled for their mom’s this month! I’m working a double that day!” she called.

“Yeah, fine!” Kliff answered back. He left before his mother could tell him something else. Sometimes he was a goffer and other times she just liked to talk. Granted, she wasn’t much of a gossiper, but the book club she ran was her monthly gossip and book night. He was pretty sure that all their moms talked about them.

The weather was getting cooler as autumn drew closer to winter day by day. Kliff was more than happy with jacket weather, but he was honestly not looking forward to the snow that would be coming. He didn’t keep warm well and winter was no fun for him, not really, which was why he hated it when his friends dragged him out of the house when the snow took over.

Kind of like how he was dragging himself out of his house right now, because his friend wanted to talk with him. He stopped and waited for the cars to clear with a sigh before crossing the road. The things he does for his friends.

It was early afternoon and a bit more crowded than he liked as he made his way downtown to Big Bear Coffeehouse. The café has one of the weirdest names for a coffee shop he had ever heard. The good thing about it was that it was the second shop in town that catered to coffee and wasn’t as populated, not with the Starbucks on the main highway getting most of the traffic. But the place does well on its own though.

When Kliff got the café he looked away and found who he was looking for sitting at one of the tables.

“Welcome!” said the barista. Kliff looked over to the counter and gave the purpled haired man a nod in greeting before going to sit at the table his friend was at.

Sitting across from Faye he wondered what was the problem now and why Tobin wasn’t called instead of him. Just from the look on her face he knew that Tobin would’ve been a better option to handle whatever it was that was going through her head. He knew that even before he left the house even.

Faye sat across from him and was fidgeting with her cup of coffee and biting her lip. Kliff scrunched his brows in confusion once he actually took in her attire. For some reason, taking a closer look at her, she was wearing yoga pants and a loose t-shirt. That was not a normal occurrence.

“What’s with the outfit?” he asked, eyebrows rose in her direction as he leaned back in his seat.

She looked up at him, finally, and, after a bit of hesitation, said, “I just got out of yoga class.”

“…When did you start doing yoga?” he asked, confused. He had never known her to practice yoga in all that he knew of her.

“A few weeks ago,” she answered. She clenched and unclenched her fingers around her cup.

Kliff stared at her. Okay, not what he expected. “Why?”

When she blushed he knew it had something to do with her having a crush. It probably had something to do with Alm. Granted, he doesn’t know how that would work or how the idea came along into her head, but sometimes Faye didn’t always make sense.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally speaking. Well, she more blurted out quickly and red faced, “I have a crush on a girl and I don’t know what to do about it!” Faye immediately covered her face, her cup tittering close to falling over onto the table from how fast she let it go to cover her face.

He blinked then stared at her. Some of the customers near their table also stared at them. As soon as he felt their stares he glared at all of them and snapped, “Eyes to yourselves, vultures.”

The other customers glared at him and went back to their own conversations and activities. The barista, having also heard, dealt with the ones that seemed more aggressive and that didn’t appreciate the teenager’s attitude.

Kliff turned back to Faye and asked, “Since when?”

He watched her take a deep breath, still red, and before speaking again, “I-I don’t know. We just started talking—well, she started talking to me—and then we started hanging out. Then I went to her yoga a class that she kept saying would help me balance myself out or whatever and then I watched her and thought she was beautiful and peaceful and that I wanted to always be with her and, and—”

He put his hand up and said, “I get the picture.”

“I want her so much, Kliff! What do I do?” she cried, face back in her hands.

“Why do you think I have the answer?” he asked, giving her a deadpanned look.

She sighed and took her coffee back into her hands. Faye took a sip before speaking up again, “Well, Tobin is busy with his own crisis. And so is Gray. And Alm is…is not an option.”

Kliff slouched in his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course Alm was not an option even if he was better suited for this than he was. Tobin was even better than Alm, for goodness sake, but he knew that Tobin was not of any help with this when he was freaking out about his kiss to Gray. “I don’t know what to tell you. Do you at least know if she likes other girls?”

Faye didn’t speak and just stared into her cup.

And Kliff didn’t know what to say after that. Luckily, he was saved from that by the barista coming up and placing another, fresh coffee in front of Faye. She looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of the purple haired man.

The man smiled down at her and gave Kliff a nod. “I’m willing to listen if you want to talk. I’m pretty good at handling these types of situations; maybe I can help more than your friend.”

Oh thank the gods, Kliff was more than happy to give this to the older man. He glanced at the nametag: Leon. The teenage boy looked to his friend and watched as she gave the barista a wary look. Kliff couldn’t blame her; she didn’t know him except that he was a barista.

The man straightened up to give her some space and held his chin with his forefinger and thumb as he looked at her. “I just thought I’d offer; I remember when I had my first crush on a boy and how confusing it was.”

Faye licked her lips self-consciously and then gave a nod. “Okay.”

Leon smiled. “Let me tell my boss I’m taking my break, I’ll be right back.” Then he turned and left for the back.

“Do you want me to stay or can I leave?”  he asked, hoping to all that was holy that she said it was fine to leave. She was his friend, but he really didn’t want to stick around for this conversation. It was awkward enough the first time he had to go through it with Tobin several years ago. Going through the whole crush thing wasn’t nearly as bad, but going through the ‘oh gods I like someone of the same gender’ crisis was not fun. For either person involved.

She frowned at him, but then just sighed. “As long as you have a Game of Thrones marathon with me.”

He scrunched his nose. “Ugh, fine.” Honestly, he’s read all the books twice and watching the show past season three made him want to froth at the mouth in frustration. But he did always prefer the books to any film or TV adaptation, but Faye liked film and television. “I guess I can make the sacrifice.”

She smiled and opened her mouth, but then snapped it shut and narrowed her eyes. That didn’t bold well for Kliff.

“Hey, Kliff,” a female voice greeted from behind him.

He recognized that voice and he found himself sighing. With the look on Faye’s face he also knew it was someone that she was a bit…hostile towards, not that his friend wasn’t hostile and closed off to most people.

Today was getting better and better, apparently.

Kliff sighed. “Clair,” he greeted back.

The other girl huffed and he could picture her crossing her arms and giving him an irritated look. “Aren’t you even going to look at me as you speak?” she asked.

With a roll of his eyes he turned in his seat to look up at the senior. As soon as he did she smiled in triumph and he could see the gleam that twinkled in her eyes. “Happy now?” he asked.

“Of course, I like it when you listen to me.”

“It’s more like in one ear and out the other, depending on the topic,” Kliff retorted. Faye’s eyes were narrowed, so he took that as his cue to leave her be. As he stood up he saw Leon coming back from the corner of his eye. “I’ll leave you; you look like you want to commit murder,” he said to his friend.

“A scalping, maybe,” Faye answered. The blonde senior’s eyes widened and she took an uncomfortable step back. Faye noticed and snorted, then turned to Kliff. “I’ll call you later?”

He nodded and walked out of the café, Clair following behind him. The blonde moved so she was walking next to him, smile on her face and fingers laced behind her back. It was quiet for a moment and Kliff began to count down when the silence between them was going to be broken. Not that he wanted her to actually speak, but it was an inevitable outcome that he knew would come at some point.

Kliff didn’t even get to seven before she opened her mouth to speak.

“Does Subway sound good? I’m absolutely craving for their new wraps,” she asked.

He rolled his eyes upwards to the sky and begged for patience before he answered her. “I don’t have much on me, so don’t buy the place out.”

Clair huffed and picked up her pace. “At this point you’re lucky that I picked such a cheap place. You should be paying for a couple meals for me.”

“Mhm, whatever, princess.”

She shot him a mild glare. He just raised an eyebrow at her. She huffed, but slowed down for him.

“How’d you find me?” he asked.

She smirked and said, “Well, I just got out of cheer practice and I was on my way to Subway when I walked past the café.”

“Then you saw me and decided to strike me for what you owe.”

Clair gave him an innocent look that he didn’t buy for a second. Never trust a rich girl, he swears.

Granted, she wasn’t all bad, but she sure liked being around him more than he thought she would.

They watched Subway after a few blocks of walking and waited in line to take their orders. She got exactly what she was craving and he just got a small soup of broccoli and cheddar. The two of them found a seat, skipping past a couple tables that were still in need to be cleaned, Clair making faces of disgust when passing them, and took a booth seat neat the window. Kliff took the seat in front of the window and Clair the one across from him.

As Clair unwrapped her sandwich she asked, “So what were you and Faye talking about?”

Kliff stirred his cheddar broccoli soup and took a spoonful. A moment later he answered, “That’s really none of your business.”

She shrugged. “That is true.” She took a bite of her food then swallowed after chewing thoroughly. “She’s kind of frightening, your friend.”

Yeah, no one in their right mind would disagree with that. She didn’t let a lot of people get close to her. Even though she hung out with Alm and his friends outside her childhood ones like Gray, Tobin, Alm, and himself, she was never close to any of them. But the thing with her is: once she lets you in she is loyal and very protective of you. Most of his friends got on his nerves, but Tobin and Faye were his best friends and he could understand how she felt.

“She can be.”

“Faye doesn’t like me too well, does she?”

He snorted. “She doesn’t like a lot of people, don’t let it bother you.”

“Kind of like you, right?”

He shrugged and took another bite of food. She continued chatting, even though he was only half listening, talking about her day and how cheer practice went. None of it was really of his interest, but he let her continue regardless.

Kliff watched her quietly, taking in the smile on her glossed lips, the way the light shined on her blonde hair. She was beautiful and it wasn’t something he said often in regards of people. He took in her relaxed body language, how she leaned forward in a way that could be considered suggestive…

Wait…

His mouth dried and his eyes widened as he straightened in his seat. Clair was giggling and he could feel tip of her shoe press against his calf. She stopped as soon as he gave her his full attention. “Pay attention, this is important.” The smirk on her lips and the glint in her eyes were teasing.

“Yes, of course, because cheers and choreography are the most important thing in the world to me.” He leaned back and rolled his eyes, trying his best to hide the flush to his cheeks. “Obviously.”

She rolled her own eyes. “Your birthday is this weekend, right?”

He narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that?”

“I asked Alm,” she answered easily, waving her hand as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I have a present for you.”

“Why? We aren’t exactly friends, acquaintances if anything, so why bother?”

When he felt the soft press of glossed lips against his it was not the answer he was expecting. It was chaste but firm enough to let him know it was on purpose and that she knew it was what she wanted to do. As soon she pulled back to sit back down in her seat, light tint of a blush across her cheeks he knew he wasn’t imagining things. And he also knew that he was more than likely red as a tomato from the top of his head the bottom of his neck.

Well. Kliff didn’t expect that. “Um…”

“…I’ll pick you up Saturday?” she asked hesitantly after a while of not much of a reaction.

Kliff cleared his throat and looked back down at his soup, moving his spoon around in it. he nodded. “…okay?”


	9. Driving Me Crazy Into My Sixteenth Year of Life

It only took two days for Saturday to catch Kliff and almost make him toss himself out of his bedroom window. Subway with Clair still crossed his mind constantly like an annoying fly that would buzz around your head no matter how many times you swat it away. How in the world was he supposed to expect a kiss from the girl? These past two days he’s been thinking maybe he’s been missing the signs or something. He doesn’t know.

But it was also something that he thought was nice, that kiss. Kliff hadn’t kissed anyone since he had his first kiss and that was only because he and the other person were experimenting. Aside from that, though, he thought she had a crush on Alm.

So what happened? What did he miss?

Kliff groaned. Well, it was something he was going to have to deal with when he saw her today.

He waited outside on the porch with a mint lemonade that his mom had made the day before. His mom wanted to make one last lemonade before the snow hit, only because the woman refused to make summer drinks in the winter when it was cold. When it was winter it was time for hot chocolate and hot tea, sometimes eggnog if close to the holidays. His mom was weird about having things that made sense for the season.

This was how Clair found him when she pulled up to his driveway. Her new Mercedes model sticking out pointedly next to his mom’s beat up old car that only runs because of the fact that his mom drives it and takes care of it. The thing has lasted past its prime.

When the window was rolled down and Clair’s head was sticking out with a smile Kliff could hear the pop music coming from the stereo. It made him cringe, but, then again, all pop music made him cringe. At least none of his close friends listened to it, gods bless them.

“Hey, Kliff, you ready to go?” she asked, smile bright.

Kliff licked his lips nervously before standing up from the lawn chair and said, “Depends if I have to listen to that thing you call music.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just come on, you’re going to enjoy your gift, but you can’t do that if you don’t get in the car.”

“That’s if I even like it,” he countered. But he turned to go inside and set the glass on the table in the kitchen before going back outside to get in the car.

It didn’t feel too different between them. Her gaze lingered on him more during school hours or when they were together with their friends, but they still bantered as they always did. But this would be their first time since earlier this week that it’d just be the two of them and he wasn’t sure how this would go and he wasn’t sure where it wanted to go, honestly.

When he got in the car he made a face at the music and was half tempted to turn it down at the very least, but barely refrained himself from doing so. He put his seatbelt on and glanced at her then went back to looking out the window. “Am I going to survive your driving?” he asked in a bored tone.

Clair turned down the music, gods bless, and said as she backed out the driveway, “My driving is much better than Gray’s, trust me.”

He snorted then hid behind a cough, but caught the smile that appeared on the girl’s face before he ignored it and smashed the flutter in his stomach viciously. “It doesn’t take much to be a better driver than Gray. It still shocks me that someone was sane enough to give him a license.”

“I hold the opinion that whoever gave Gray his license was not all there.”

“Or just didn’t want to go through the test with him again because of self-preservation.”

Apparently, making fun of Gray was easy for the both of them. He still wanted to know what she wanted of him, but he was more than willing to wait it out. The answer made him a little more than nervous, so he’ll procrastinate on that for as long as he could.

As they drove to wherever the destination she had in mind Katy Perry played in the background and had the passing thought of surprise that she was still making music. He looked out the window, commenting here and there on things or what she had said.

Kliff was also silently judging her driving skills and he had to grudgingly admit that she was a pretty decent driver. At least she didn’t give him a heart attack when she turned like his friend did when he swerved his turns too quickly that you thought the car would tilt over or the tires would hit the curb hard enough to go into someone’s yard. He refused to go into the car if Gray was driving.

He didn’t understand how Tobin willingly got in the death traps with that crazy driver. Yet again, his best friend was stupidly in love with their friend. He’s pretty sure that clouds his judgment…or at least allows him to overlook some things at times.

When they reached an empty parking lot, grass outcropping in cracks of the pavement and the building next to it definitely abandoned, she put the car in park. It took him a minute to figure out that it as the old hospital that was boarded up and abandoned due to time taking its toll.

“Should I be worried about you trying to murder me?” he asked. “Because I’m pretty sure that I could take you out before you get the chance.”

Clair made a face, like she was confused. “No! Why would I do that?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, leaning against his seat with his arms crossed. “You don’t watch horror movies, do you?”

“No, they’re not exactly my genre.” Then she took in the scenery and he watched the realization dawn in her eyes. “Oh.”

Kliff smirked. “Yeah, oh.”

She whipped her attention back to him and narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean you could take me? I’m pretty sure I’m more active than you.”

“That may be so, but one of my best friends is Faye and she knows many different ways to either incapacitate someone or kill them. You think that she didn’t share those things with me?”

Clair shuddered. “She scares me, if I’m going to be completely honest.”

He smiled. Good, considering that Faye was not a fan of most people and fiercely protective of her people so having a healthy dose of fear when she sees someone as a threat was the best course of action.

But back onto topic. “So, if not to murder me why are we here?” he asked.

She smiled and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Tobin told me how much you hate riding with Gray, so I thought we’d get started early with teaching you how to drive.”

His eyes widened. “You want me to drive your car? With no experience?”

“From what I was told you drove once before.”

“Around half a block in a residential area does not count.”

She poked him in the chest. “Get out of the car and get the driver’s seat, freshman,” she ordered.

The two of them got out of the car switched positions. Kliff was hesitant to sit in the driver’s seat and it showed when he stood outside the open door. All that went through his mind was all the things that could happen. He knew he wouldn’t do awful, but this was also not his mom’s or any of his friends’ cars and was one that just came off the lot two years ago. Was she really stupid enough to let someone with near no experience drive the thing.

There was a cough and he met her pointed look.

Apparently, yes, yes she was.

He got in and put his seatbelt on. He adjusted the seat for his height—she was taller than him—then did the same to the mirrors.

“Good, good, get to know the car and where everything is so that you can use them without fumbling around to find them.”

There was comment on the tip of his tongue, but he held himself back from saying it out loud. She should be proud of him. But Kliff did do as she suggested and was glad that he did, considering her car was fourteen years newer than his mom’s own car. It was fancier than he was used to being in, enough to make him uncomfortable about being in the driver’s seat.

She laid her hand on his arm and said, “Relax, you’ll be fine. Just take your time.”

He flushed and gripped the steering wheel with both hands, he glanced down between them. “At least it’s not a stick shift,” he mumbled.

“That means you won’t kill us,” she teased. Clair gave his arm another squeeze then let go.  “Drive around the parking lot, use the turn signals whenever you make any turns.”

Kliff put the car in drive and drove around the parking lot at a snail’s pace. It was slow going, but eventually he relaxed enough to ease the tension in his hands that gripped the wheel with white knuckles. His grip was still firm, but not to where it would hurt his hands like before.

This went on for a little while quietly until Clair told him to park forward into one of the old parking spots.

“Keep the car running, but open the trunk.”

It took him a moment to find the lever for the trunk, but did as he was told and watched as she went behind the car and lifted the trunk opened. With the trunk opened he couldn’t see what she was doing. There was a moment he caught a bit of orange, but that was it.

What he saw when she put the lid of the trunk down made him frown. Parking. She was going to make him park.

The poor girl was going to lose a tire from this.

When she came up to the window she leaned against the door with her forearms. “So, parking is probably the more difficult part of driving. Do you want me to show you or just instruct you on what to do?” she asked.

“Either way you’re going to lose a tire,” he answered.

Clair flicked his ear and he jumped back, glaring. She only smirked in return and said, “If you can keep my tires intact and my car still runs then I’ll give you your birthday present with an added bonus.”

It was a good incentive.

One that he almost regretted taking considering in the half hour he tried to park he almost flattened her tire trying to realign the car correctly onto a large amount of glass that neither of them had seen. The only good thing that came out of that moment was Clair frantically telling him to stop moving.

Parallel parking was not his friend, but apparently a lot of people felt that way including Clair.

 

 

 

The sun was lowered down in the sky to show that it was beginning to turn into evening and chill was filling the air. Both teenagers were sitting on the sidewalk next to the car, cones put back away into the trunk. Her cross body purse was next to her on her other side.

There was a shift in the dirt as she maneuvered to reach into her purse and he watched her do so, taking in the curve of her body as she dug around the bag to find what she was looking for. When she found it she said, “I was told you liked games, but it’s not exactly a source of entertainment I’m familiar with. So I got you gift card for Steam; it has fifty dollars on it. It was hinted to me that you play a lot of computer games and that you went through Steam for some of them.”

Kliff stared at it for a moment then gingerly took the card and put it in his wallet for safe keeping. It was definitely something he could use considering that the new expansion pack was coming out soon for the MMO he played. “Thank you,” he said.

She handed him one more thing, a twenty dollar bill, and said, “For not destroying my car, as we agreed upon.”

He took that, too, and placed it in his wallet. With a sigh he had to ask for the sake of his sanity, “I appreciate the thought, but I have to ask: why?”

At the question, she looked away, flushing. Seeing the blush on her cheeks gave him that fluttering feeling in his stomach again and he had to swat that away harshly. He watched her bite at her lip until she straightened her back and turned to face him, a determined look on her face.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “I wanted to spend time with you, just the two of us.” She nipped her lips nervously.

Is this going where he thought it was going? “You have a crush on me?” he asked, incredulous. “What about Alm?”

Her blush deepened. “Yes, I do.” She paused. “And I still like Alm, but I’m more happy that he’s happy and I’m glad to have him as a friend.”

“So, I’m your rebound?” he asked.

“No! I actually do really like you! Why do you think I was always getting your attention recently?”

Well, it wasn’t really that obvious to him and he, apparently, can’t notice that someone has crush on him if you punched him in the face with it. “Why?”

Clair blinked. “Why…what?”

He looked her dead in the eye, serious, and elaborated, “Why me?”

Her face softened. “Kliff, you’re rough around the edges, but you’re a good guy once you let people in. And I like how we banter and how quick witted you are, how you stand your ground with me and not allow me to get my way all the time. you challenge me. You treat me like a regular person and not by how I look or my social status and I appreciate that. I’d like to try dating.”

The freshman stared at, surprised. It wasn’t a reason that he saw coming. Honestly, he thought it was going to be some kind of prank and he was prepared to rebuke her. This was a pretty honest confession and it had him turning red at the tip of his ears.

She really liked him?

His own feelings weren’t as concrete as hers were, but he knew there was something there. Kliff couldn’t say that he liked her to the extent that she did for him, but he was willing to see where everything would go if she was willing to as well.

With a shaky breath, Kliff said, “I’m willing to give dating you a try, but don’t expect anything amazing from me.”

The senior scooted closer to him and pressed their shoulders together. “If wanted someone extravagant then I would’ve went with someone else.” She kissed his cheek. “We’ll take it slow.”


	10. In Which There’s Another Sexuality Crisis But This Time It’s Gray

It wasn’t every day that Alm dealt with a panicked Gray. Usually his best friend was pretty laidback and full of jokes, not one to let things get him down or fluster him. He remembered when he first realized that his friend liked Clair. There was no getting flustered or fumbling over his feet or words, Gray didn’t hold back and made his feelings known by flirting with her when he got the chance. The senior didn’t waste time with giving compliments or trying to ask her to do things together when out with the group.

Clair has paid him little mind and kept it friendly but distant. She obviously was not interested. It kind of made Alm feel bad considering that he and everyone else knew that she liked him and not Gray, which he only knew because Celica told him. Celica told him not to worry about it, that he couldn’t control someone’s feelings for you.

He wished he could help Clair realize that Gray was a good guy that she should give a shot to. But, as Celica has told him, he can only let things happen as they do between the two; it wasn’t his place to interfere.

Gray liked his women, he wasn’t a ladies man or anything, but he appreciated the female figure. When his friend had first seen his fellow blonde senior it was like an automatic infatuation that hasn’t left since he first laid eyes on her. it was…almost painful to watch, actually.

But this? Gray had been a whirlwind when he busted into his house, eyes wide with panic and sweating from all the running he did to get to the house. His chest rose and settled at a rapid pace and Alm worried his friend was going to hyperventilate into passing out at any time.

And, sadly, he was very happy that his grandfather was out with his veteran friends today or his grandfather would’ve been very upset about how the door slammed so hard into the door that the knob put a hole in the wall. That wasn’t a conversation Alm was looking forward to having with his grandfather.

Celica had jumped in her seat, almost dropping her tea, but only managed to slosh a little on the floor. The carpet stain was also not going to be fun to explain to grandfather if he couldn’t get it out before he came home. She looked from Alm to Gray, worried and all Alm could do was shrug and stare at the mess that was his best friend.

It was early afternoon and he and Celica had just finished having lunch together and were about to sit on the patio in the backyard to have their tea.

“Gray—” Alm said, but was cut off when his voice seemed to break his friend out of his stupor and the dam broke.

“Holy shit…what the fuck? Alm, why the hell did I do it?!” asked Gray as he gripped his hair and groaned.

Alm had no idea what he was talking about. “Um, Gray? Calm down and maybe start from the beginning? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Then his best friend sped over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. Not once did he notice the girl sitting right next to the green haired teen. “Tobin and I kissed not too long ago, right? No big deal, easy to write off, no problem, so I did. Completely left my mind, but then last night happened and holy shit why?”

“Maybe I should leave you two alone?” said Celica.

That snapped the frazzled teen’s attention right to the girl that was his best friend’s girlfriend. “Oh, shit, sorry, dude. I’ll let you get back—”

Celica put her hand on the dark skinned teen’s shoulder reassuringly and said, “No, don’t worry about it. Talk to Alm and get everything off your chest.” She stood and turned to her boyfriend to kiss his cheek. “Alm, I’ll wait for you out on the patio, okay?”

He smiled. “Okay.”

When she turned and left out the back door Gray rubbed his face with a groan and plopped onto the armchair diagonal from the couch, slouching. “Sorry, man.”

“It’s fine, we still have the rest of the day together,” Alm said easily.

Gray removed his hands from his face and smirked, “You mean the rest of your lives, right?”

Alm blushed and coughed to try and hide it. “Anyways, so…Tobin?”

That got another groan out of his friend. “Right, right, ugh. Okay, so, last night happened and it kind of changes things.”

The green haired teen had a feeling this was going to go places he probably didn’t want to know about, but he was going to let it happen anyways. “Okay? What happened?” he asked carefully.

“Okay, okay, so Tobin. Well, okay, I’ll just say it: I was high as shit and Tobin and I jerked each other off and made out last night.”

Alm blinked, wide eyed. On one hand he wanted to get on Gray’s case about his recreational use of marijuana, but, on the other, he knew now was not the time. He’ll store it away for later, get on his case when he wasn’t freaking out. Deal with the issue at hand, Alm. “O-Okay. And this is an issue because you’re straight, right?”

“And I enjoyed it! Why?” shouted Gray, exasperated.

He was not the right person to deal with this situation, Alm knew this for sure. If anything, he would’ve suggested Lukas or Python; even Forsyth. “Well, did you enjoy it because it was Tobin or because it was a physical response to stimulus?” That sounded like something Lukas would say; Alm gave himself a figurative pat on the back.

For a moment, Gray was silent as he thought about it and Alm watched him. “It definitely felt good, not gonna lie, man, but I don’t like Tobin like that, I like Clair. And women.”

He sighed. “You know, it’s okay to like both: men and women. Most of our friends fall into the not-so-straight category,” said Alm. There was no judgment in his tone.

“Yeah, I know, but women have always been my thing.”

“Do you find Tobin attractive?”

Gray snorted. “Of course Tobin is attractive. He’s a good guy that anyone would be lucky to have; he’s smart, takes care of his family, knows how to budget his money, has your back in tight spots, will you support you even if he doesn’t agree with what you choose to do, and a great friend.”

“But what about physically?” egged on Alm.

There was silence. It was a long silence that had the dark skinned teen bouncing his leg and avoiding eye contact by looking at the floor. Though Alm wasn’t sure what that meant, he knew it could either go one of two ways and either one was either positive or negative. He watched his face for any signs and there were plenty of emotions that ran through it; surprise, confusion, thoughtfulness, and realization.

When Gray finally did speak it was strained and quiet. “He’s cute.” He covered his face again. “Fuck.”

This was the most that Alm has heard him swear in a while, which only means he was stressed, really stressed. Alm sighed and said, “Gray, it is okay to like both Clair and Tobin and you don’t have to make any decisions now, but I think you should talk to Tobin to let him know where you stand on this. You guys can’t leave it like this forever, so when you figure things out for yourself talk to him.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Gray ran his hands through his hair with a shaky sigh then stood up. “Okay, right. I’m gonna go home and get into zen mood, leave you with your future wife.”

Alm stood with him and followed him to the door, eye catching onto the hole again, before going back onto his friend. “You sure? You can stay here and we can hang out and Celica and I can have our date day some other time.”

Gray waved his hand to dismiss the idea. “Nah, spend time with your girl. I’ll be fine.”

Alm pursed his lips. “If you say so.”

Gray gave a playful punch to Alm’s shoulder and said, “Thanks, Alm.” He looked at the hole in the wall and winced. “I’ll be sure to not damage your wall next time and to call beforehand.”

That got a laugh out of the other teen. “I’m sure Grandfather and my wallet would appreciate it.”

The other laughed and left to head back to his place. Alm watched him for a moment before sighing and shutting the door. He remade himself some tea and went to the back patio to sit next to Celica.

He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together and asked, “Am I just seeing things or does Gray have a thing for Tobin?”

Celica laughed and said, “You’re a little slow on the uptake, Alm.”

“So…he does?” he asked.

“Remember last summer,” she said, voice light and knowing, “when Tobin was dating that guy Luthier before he left to study abroad?”

Alm nodded. He remembered him as the guy that didn’t have a lot of friends; most of his friends were cats of the area that the college student fed. Luthier had a hard time with socializing with others. “Yeah.”

She hummed and smiled. “And remember how Gray was grumpy and irritated at all the time that Tobin spent with Luthier? How even the mention of Tobin and Luthier would sour his mood?”

He furrowed his brows. “But he said it was because Tobin was hardly hanging out with all of us.”

“What about the looks he’d the send the two when together, but then the smug looks of satisfaction when Tobin was with him instead of Luthier? Or how Gray would interrupt their get togethers?”

The scenes of those times last year ran through his head and as he looked at them in a different light his eyes widened in realization. “Oh.”

Celica laughed and kissed him. “Oh, Alm, don’t change.”


	11. It’s the Quiet Ones You Need to Watch Out For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel really bad that you guys out there that actually read this keep getting such short chapters. I try to write longer, but I'm just not that type of writer. Hope you guys continue to like this and get enjoyment from it somehow.

He found himself in the library again with Genny, but this time the two of them were in one of the closed off rooms that she had reserved a week ago apparently. She had a laptop out with a two or three spiral notebooks and folders surrounding her once again. From the way Lukas had spoken to her it seemed it was common for her to come here. When he first came here and saw her he thought it was only so that she could research as needed for her books, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

It made Kliff wonder why she was here writing so often instead of at home. Well, he could always ask. Just as he was about to open his mouth to do so a few pages stapled together were slid his direction from her. He looked down. Ah, a new chapter to edit.

“Something doesn’t feel complete or right about that chapter, but I’m having trouble figuring out what it is. Could you let me know if something comes to you?” she asked, slipping a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it?” Kliff picked up his red pen and twirled it in his fingers as he began to read.

She only smiled in response before her fingers started clicking across the keyboard once again.

It was the thirteenth chapter of the story where the protagonist was at a turning point of the story and where the dragon the protagonist had has finally accepted them. As he read on the chapter also told of another issue, the turning point. But it seemed that the supposed turning point could have been handled better and be less predictable. He took one of her notebooks and shifted through until he found a blank page and began to jot down a few ideas that came to mind.

Genny slid the notebook closer so she could read what he put down and he thought about the past week.

Like how much hasn’t really changed between Clair and him, thankfully, with the exception of her calling or texting him now throughout the day when they haven’t seen each other. It’s the most time he’s spent on his phone that wasn’t for research or gaming. However, that little change was weird for him all the same. Kliff wasn’t used to getting ‘good morning’ or ‘goodnight’ text messages, nor was he really used to using said methods with anyone other than his friends.

But it wasn’t overwhelming so far and he appreciated that because he, honestly, had no idea what he was doing when it came to this whole dating thing. It hasn’t stopped him from getting at her when she gets on his nerves with the constant texting, so Clair’s texting has slowed down considerably.

When she wouldn’t stop, and he was pretty sure it was to annoy him at that point, he sent her an image of a cockroach and told her ‘I will find one of these and put it in your purse if you don’t slow down’. She glared at him the rest of the day, but it got the job done.

The two of them were being discreet right now, Kliff not wanting others to know just yet. There were a multitude of reasons for that, but the main one? He just simply wasn’t comfortable with the idea yet and wanted to get used to the idea of being with her first before having others know about it. Luckily, she found that reasonable and agreed to that.

Kliff’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to take a look at a text message he knew was from his…girlfriend… That was still weird to even think about.

[ _How do you feel about going bowling tomorrow after school?_ ]

He thanked whatever god was out there that she didn’t text like Gray. [ ** _As long as I can stop by the game store._** ]

The phone buzzed again, twice.

[ _Don’t you play enough video games?_ ]

[ _Maybe I should get you to play a board game ;)_ ]

Kliff rolled his eyes. He started off with board games with his friends before going to tabletop roleplaying games then to video games. Games in general were very much his thing. He’s not much into dealing with people, but he didn’t mind playing games with them as long as they weren’t too bad or annoying.

Now, cards? Unless it was Magic the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh! he had no chance of winning unless he got lucky. Now Gray and Tobin? Those two knew cards and if they partnered up everyone was doomed to get demolished. Faye was the one that put up the best fight for those two. But Clair didn’t need to know that though and he planned to keep that from her for as long as he could.

[ ** _I would ruin you._** ]

[ ** _Go back to cheer practice._** ]

He was about to put his phone away when it buzzed again. [ _Yes, dear._ ] With a snort and a roll of his eyes Kliff slid his phone back into his pocket.

When he looked up Genny was staring at him with a knowing smirk. He stared back, narrowing his eyes. “What?” he asked.

“You were smiling,” she answered with a giggle.

He frowned. “I wasn’t.” He refused to believe that.

She hummed. “Just a little.” With a smile she stretched her hands to give them some exercise then she glanced up, a playful and mischievous look in her eyes. “So…you and Clair.”

That got him to straighten his posture and glare at the girl in front of him. No one was supposed to know, so how did she? He would try to deny it, but after his immediate reaction he knew that wasn’t going to get by her. Kliff cursed how his body immediately stiffened at the words. “How?” he asked.

“I people watch. As a writer I observe what’s going on around me and I just happened to notice that the two of you have been socializing more often and going around each other without your friends,” she said, taking the reed pen from his hand and jotting something down on the hard copy of the chapter.

“So you know we’re dating.”

She looked up and gave him a teasing smile. “I do now.”

Kliff blinked and stared. Genny only smiled brightly at him like she was innocent of any misdeeds. Well, he fell into that trap embarrassingly easy. That was something he should have seen coming, but he seemed to have forgotten how she wasn’t as innocent as she appeared. Though, she looked sweet there was a little demoness abiding their tie within her, he was sure.

“Well played.”

“Thank you,” she said, “I have condoms if you need some.”

That got Kliff to sputter and turn beet red from the tip of his ears to the collar of his shirt. The images that brought upon him were cruel for her to bring to his mind. Having thoughts of him and Clair were embarrassing enough, but thoughts of what Genny did with those condoms was horrifying to even contemplate.

What was even more mortifying was that she brought a condom out of her purse and handed it to him.

He didn’t reach for it or touch it, just looked back up to her and croaked out, “You are the dirtiest girl I have ever met.”

And all she did was laugh and throw the packaged condom at his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, I'm sure Kliff will agree that the more comfortable that Genny gets with him the more open she was going to become with him and he finds the idea mortifying, lol
> 
> Poor Kliff XD


	12. Golf Really is an Old Man’s Sport, Just So You Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, I missed last week's update, sorry, guys. It was just tiring and working twelve days straight with two of those days in a row being 10-12 hour shifts in a row with that? I wasn't even friendly at that point.
> 
> But here's the new chapter now. I was gonna do a double update, but Voltron pretty much took over my life this week. Maybe I'll do a double update month? Don't hold your breath though XD

Kliff leaned against the golf club as he watched the older brother of his girlfriend ready his hit for the ball. Honestly, he didn’t understand what the other man enjoyed about this sport; he found it dull and boring and… He really didn’t want to be here. if Clive didn’t make it obvious that he was demanding that he come golfing with him the editor would be at his own apartment and playing the new expansion pack of his game with his guild.

But, no, here he was out in the sun and heat and watching this blond man play his old man sport. Yes, he knew young people played golf, but he never saw many. He was very much ready to go home, if only the man would let him.

When Clive finally made his move and the little white ball was flying through the air Kliff sighed. Finally.

Clive watched it fly through the air, hand blocking the sun as he looked up and beyond, his eyes following the ball. “A little further to the left would’ve done it some good,” he mumbled, rubbing his chin.

Then the older man turned to face the editor and gave a small smile. “Let me get this in the hole and then we can sit down for lunch. I think you’ve had your fill of sports for today.”

“Really now?” said Kliff, sarcasm dripping from his voice so thick you couldn’t miss it, “And here I thought you were prolong our time out on the course.”

The blond frowned. “The attitude is completely unnecessary, thank you very much.”

Kliff just rolled his eyes and swung the club in his hand a couple times before placing it in the bag with the others. “Let’s just finish your game so I can go where there’s air conditioner.”

The older man sighed and ran a hand through his hair before leading the way across the field to where the ball landed. Kliff didn’t take the bag of clubs and left it for Clive to take and tote around. The editor may have been forced here, but that didn’t he was going to play the other man’s caddie, girlfriend’s brother or not.

Following behind the older man Kliff sighed. Usually, he wasn’t as snarky with Clive. They got along pretty well after the two of them got used to each other, but it just was a day that the younger man didn’t feel like dealing with others. Granted, he didn’t enjoy golf, but his remarks would’ve been less sarcastic and snappy if he had been in a better mood. A better mood led to higher tolerance to things he was not fond of.

Golf also wasn’t something that Clive to took him to join in on; they mostly had lunch or coffee or socialized when he came over to visit Clair at the manor.

Unlike himself, Clair still lived at home even though she spent half her time at his apartment nowadays. She was now talking about moving out from her childhood home so her brother and his family could have the space completely to themselves. Kliff wasn’t surprised it took her this long to get to this point. Clair was pretty attached to her big brother and Clive was more than a little protective of his little sister.

That protection Kliff had been at the end of a few times throughout his and her relationship over the years. Almost every large step in their relationship and if Clive didn’t have his wife then Kliff was pretty sure that some things wouldn’t be possible. there were a couple occasions where he had tried to hunt him down because his overprotective streak hit, especially if Clair was crying or upset. He only survived because he was warned ahead of time by Mathilda that Clive wanted to rip him apart.

And he may not be Gray or Genny or Python, but he did enjoy the perks of being able to do certain things with a partner.

Kliff was more than happy to be done with golfing for the day as he watched Clive hit the ball into the hole and then put everything back. The editor checked his watch as he followed the blond off the golf course. It was pushing late afternoon and, quite honestly, he was ready for a nap.

Being outside did that to him sometimes, especially when it was hot out and he was already in a mood before even leaving the bed.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to make to their cars—parked next to each other—and loaded the bag into Clive’s trunk. With it as late as it is Kliff doubted that he be out much longer with Clive and be able to go home soon to lock himself away from the world. Dinner was around the corner and the man always made sure to make home for dinner so he could eat with his family and spend time with them. Kind of was a compromise the husband and wife made when they decided to start a family, that way Clive wouldn’t spend so much time at work without seeing them all and missing out on the milestones of their kids.

Clair loved her niece and nephew and spent time with them often when she wasn’t working with a client at the salon. Spoiled them rotten even and then happily dropped them off to their parents to deal with the aftermath. Kliff thought the two were terrors, especially if they knew they could get away with something, but mostly in the way that they are the chattiest runts he’s had to ever deal with.

Why the couple was having a third one was beyond him.

Clive leaned against the driver’s side of his car and looked at him. “Kliff,” said Clive.

Making a face of displeasure he was sure as obvious even with his back turned away from the man’s gaze Kliff arranged his expression to be as neutral as possible before he faced him. “What?” Well, he didn’t mean to snap at him, but it was too late now.

The man took a breath, as if asking for patience like Kliff has seen him do with his children when they wouldn’t listen, then said, “As you’re aware, Clair is wanting to move out of the manor.”

“Mhm.”

He tapped his finger into the crook of his elbow of his crossed arms. “It’s a concept I’m not sure I’m ready for, but know I can’t protect her forever. But,” Clive sighed, “if she had to move out I’d rather her move in with you.”

“You don’t say.”

Clive pursed his lips, but decided not to comment on his attitude again and just continued, “You two have been together for nearly a decade, though you aren’t married and I’d prefer you to be so, I know she’d be in good hands and happy with you. Could you, perhaps, ask her to move in with you?”

The two of them have been together a little over seven years, but… Kliff raised an eyebrow. “No.”

There was shock in his expression and then frustration. “Why not?”

“Because she wants to live by herself for a while and have a chance to see what she can do on her own.” He shrugged. “She never really got a real chance to do so and college dorms barely count.”

“…I don’t like it, to be honest…” murmured Clive with a sigh.

Kliff rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to like it, you just have to accept it and deal with it.” With that he unlocked his door. “It’ll be good for her; you spoil her too much anyways.”

“I suppose that’s all I can do.” Clive straightened onto his feet and just as Kliff was opening the door to his own car the man asked, “You are going to ask her to marry you eventually, right? She deserves to be married.”

Kliff narrowed his eyes at the man and said, “I’m not going to discuss that with you.”

Then the younger man got in the car and drove off before another word could be said.


	13. Texting with the Flu is the Bane of the Little Princess’ Existence, but Keep Her Company Anyways

Clair turned over and groaned. She opened her eyes only to hiss and close them again as the sun’s rays hit them. Then she opened them again, slowly and cautiously this time, sniffling. She felt gross and dirty and miserable. There was no other way to go about it or say it. It’s been two days of being in bed surrounded by snot rags and she was only now starting to feel better. She’s refused to look in the mirror after two days prior finding herself looking like a waking disaster when first told to stay for bed rest.

With another sniffle, feeling the mucus trying to escape her nose, she reached across to her nightstand and grabbed a couple Kleenexes that she quickly blew her nose into. Ugh, so disgusting; she couldn’t wait to get rid of this good for nothing flu. She was missing classes and the newest drama with her friends and Kliff.

She was really missing Kliff’s frustrated and cute face, their banter. If she wasn’t knocked out most of the time from cold medicine or hadn’t been puking or trying to manage a headache she would have been texting him since yesterday between bouts of sleep. It wasn’t until now that the headache finally decided to give her a break and the puking stopped. For it was a miracle of the gods at this point.

And to make herself not feel completely miserable she decided that texting her boyfriend was going to be a thing; she missed the little jerk anyways. So, she pulled out her phone and brought her messages. It was Saturday morning, so she knew he was going to be up. Saturday mornings were chore days that his mother made sure he did, so she never let him sleep in even if he stayed up all night. Granted, it made him a grumpy little gremlin, but he usually was half the time anyways.

Clair typed out a message: [ _talk 2 me, gremlin_ ]. She hit send.

It was a while before she finally got a response back. She went through another couple tissues for her nose and nearly fell asleep when the ding of her phone receiving a message finally came through.

[ ** _Go back to sleep, I can already tell your texting is going to be Gray-level._** ]

She snorted and gagged a little as the mucus went down her throat, coughing until she cleared herself of danger. Clair grabbed another few tissues and hacked into them before tossing the rag somewhere over the bed. That was atrocious.

[ _dont be sassy, i cant handle that rn_ ]

[ ** _If you didn’t want to deal with that then you should know better than to text me. Just because you’re sick doesn’t mean I’m going easy on you._** ]

[ _u r horrible_ ]

[ _a rotten apple_ ]

[ _ily tho_ ]

[ ** _You’re texting is a disaster and makes me want to fling a dictionary at you._** ]

Clair laughed and sat up, propping the pillows against her headboard and leaning back on them. [ _gray 2?_ ]

[ ** _Always._** ]

[ _what have i missed?_ ]

[ ** _Everything’s the same. Alm and Celica are still married, Gray’s still barely passing his classes, and Tobin and Faye have decided to have a Supernatural marathon for the next month._** ]

[ _what about celica’s group?_ ]

[ ** _Nothing new there either. Boey and Mae are still fighting like an old married couple and Genny is getting ready to submit her short story to a writing competition._** ]

[ _are boey and mae kissing under the bleachers yet?_ ]

[ ** _No? Am I supposed to?_** ]

[ _damn_ ]

[ _trust me, u would know_ ]

[ _itd be all over the school_ ]

[ ** _I’ll take your word for it._** ]

[ _will u go 2 prom with me?_ ]

[ ** _That’s months away._** ]

[ _thats not a no_ ]

[ ** _It’s not a yes either._** ]

[ _please?_ ]

[ ** _You do realize we might also not be together at that time, right?_** ]

Which was true enough, but it wasn’t something that Clair thought about. If you want a relationship to work you can’t think about how it was going to end or that it wouldn’t last long. As far as she was concerned it was asking for disaster.

Her boyfriend may consider himself a realist, but he was mostly just a sassy pessimist. Sometimes a realist, but there was always pessimism. The day optimism joined his mindset would be the day she had a heart attack. She liked him, she liked him a lot since they started dating a few weeks back, but she knew him well enough. Enough to give him a hard time.

[ _do u plan on breaking up w me?_ ]

[ ** _Not this week at least._** ]

[ _omg ur so mean 2 me :(_ ]

[ ** _And yet you’re dating me. You signed up for this._** ]

[ _ur a hermit and idk why I like u_ ]

[ ** _Let me know when you figure it out._** ]

Clair yawned and slouched down further into her pillows, into her bed, as her eyelids became droopy.

[ ** _Genny knows about us._** ]

She scrunched up her brows. Well, how did she know? The blonde had agreed to keep their relationship quiet for a while so Kliff could have some time to get used to it and not have to deal with others getting on his case for getting a girl that was ‘out of his league’. She scoffed at that. Please, as if they have any say in her life.

Really though, she’s pretty sure that Kliff was more concerned about their mutual friend Gray. Both of them knew that the other boy liked her, had a crush on her for a while. It wasn’t something that Gray was subtle about. Just last week he was sitting next to her at lunch and complimenting her on her cheers and how she looked good that day in her new outfit. She kept it polite, but disregarded the comments.

And though Kliff was there he said nothing about Gray or show any indication that it bothered him to have Gray flirting with her. She just kind of assumes that her boyfriend doesn’t have a jealous bone in his body. Whether that was good or bad was left to be decided at a later date.

[ _how?_ ]

[ ** _We’ve gotten to know each other well and she’s a people watcher. She just notices things._** ]

[ _r u ok with that?_ ]

[ ** _She won’t say anything._** ]

Clair didn’t know the younger girl; they’ve barely spoken more than a handful of words to each other, so she’d have to take his word for it. At least she was less scary than his friend Faye. That girl didn’t seem to like her very much.

[ _ill take ur word 4 it_ ]

She slipped down until she was lying on her side on the bed, head resting on her pillows and yawned again.

[ _im goin back 2 sleep_ ]

[ ** _Okay. Get some rest._** ]

That got a smile out of Clair.

[ ** _You need to at least look half alive by the time Monday comes._** ]

Then Clair just groaned and rolled her eyes.

[ _ur terrible_ ]

[ _ttyl_ ]

She could picture him rolling his eyes at her and she hid her smile as she buried her face against her pillows.


	14. So We Got Caught…Well, it Was Going to Happen Sooner or Later, I Guess?

It was late afternoon as Kliff and Clair stood in line and waited to order their tickets for the movie. For a Wednesday it was awfully busy and the freshman picked this day for their date specifically because he thought it wasn’t going to be crowded. That turned out to not be the case and he couldn’t help but feel the disappointment in that fact. He’d deal with it, if only because Clair was excited to see the movie just like him and even he had to admit, at least to himself, that she was cute when excited.

She was never going to know that if he had any say about it, he’d never hear the end of it.

The two of them stood close together, not holding hands or arms linked together, but shoulders touching and hands grazing against each other’s. Clair would probably have linked their arms together as they stood waiting, but she understood that he wasn’t the type of person to enjoy publically displaying his affection. When he got comfortable enough, though, he may not mind holding her hand later down the road. Clair understood that and was, luckily, fine with it.

“This didn’t work out like you wanted, did it?” she asked, bumping his shoulder playfully as they took a step forward as the next person took their turn to the counter.

Kliff huffed and crossed his arms and followed his girlfriend a step. “Sadly.” He sighed. “I can only hope the theater itself won’t be packed to the brim.”

She hummed and rolled onto the ball of her feet and then back flat to floor. “We could always come back Monday; it should be calmed down by then.”

“We’re already here and I already told my guild that I was going to be gone tonight. Besides, I told we would do the movie today.” Which was true. They’ve been dating for almost two months and they each took turns picking the dates and last time was Clair. They hung out, but dates happened when they could and when Kliff was up to it.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand how you can be on a game all day and not go crazy.”

“I prefer it to being out and about.” He shrugged. “I talk to my guild, so I still socialize. Though,” he side eyes her, “being with you is making me have to go out of my comfort zone.”

They stepped forward. There were two small groups of people in front of them. When he looked at the clock he saw that they still had a few minutes left before their movie started.

“That’s a good thing. Maybe your temperament will get better.”

“That’s some wishful thinking you got there. Did you forget who you were dating?”

She widened her eyes and gave small inaudible gasp, hand to her heart. “Why I never! With that sharp tongue and wit how could I dare forget my beloved little gremlin?”

Kliff laughed a little and brushed his hand with hers, gripping her hand for second before letting go. And when that smile, small and shy and oh so uncommon, stayed on his lips her own brightened and warmth filled her chest.

“I suppose you keep up well enough.”

She wanted to kiss him so badly, but she’ll hold out until they’re in their seats and the theater was dark.

When they finally made it the counter they made their order quick and Kliff paid for it. Neither were hungry or thirsty so they decided to opt out of that. Tickets gathered, they quickly made their way to the theater room four and found a seat in the back.

The lights dimmed just as the two of them were putting their cell phones on silent. Just as Kliff had his cell phone back in his pocket and it was safe the blonde pulled the younger teen into a kiss.

Kliff squeaked in surprise, something he would deny later at all accusations, and tensed before he relaxed. The kiss wasn’t intense or chaste, but it was affectionate and slow and appreciative. He followed her lead, one hand on her waist to ground himself. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it was enough for the both of them and it showed when she pulled away, eyes half-lidded but sparkling.

He could feel the heat beneath his collar and he knew he was blushing something fierce; was pretty sure that the tip of his ears were also a deep shade of red. He cleared his throat and leaned back in his seat. “Well, that was out of nowhere…”

She smiled and kissed his cheek. “I love it when you smile and laugh; it makes me happy I can bring them out of you. I just really like you, Kliff.”

And though Kliff said nothing to that, because, really, he didn’t know what to say, when the previews were done and the beginning of the movie started Kliff took her hand in his and laced their fingers together.

Then half way through the movie she was pressed against his side just to be closer to him.

When the movie ended Kliff felt relaxed, good, and he was more than happy to hold her hand a little longer until they excited through the door of theater four. He wanted to continue holding her hand a bit longer.

So it was as they were talking about the movie that it happened. He should have known better.

“Kliff? Clair?”

The younger teenager let go of his girlfriend’s hand and rolled his eyes to the ceiling, wishing to rewind time so he didn’t have to deal with this. Granted, it’s been nearly two months, but this was not how he planned on letting others know that he was dating one of the most popular girls in school.

Clair, for her part, just gave him a sympathetic look. He shrugged in response and just sighed.

“I guess Genny isn’t going to be the only one who knows now,” said the blonde, voice low so only he could catch the words.

“Looks like,” he grumbled. “Let’s get this over with.”

The couple met half way to their friends, Gray with the most bewildered expression on his face. Everyone was surprised to some extent, with maybe the exception of Faye. Faye looked to mostly judging and finding Clair lacking by the looks of it.

Oh Faye, he loved her dearly, she was one of his best friends, but she was a tad overprotective when it came to her friends. It wasn’t the first time he was reminded of this, especially since the café incident. Probably since then she had been suspicious of Clair when it came to him, but she was also a rival for Alm’s affections at one point. Faye probably didn’t want him to be a rebound for the senior.

He wondered how things were going for her with her attraction to the yoga instructor. A random thought, yes, but it’s been a while since he’s been filled in. he’d have to ask her later.

Tobin stood beside her and he had a pained expression on his face that he knew was laced with pity. Everyone knew of Gray’s feelings for the blonde and Tobin knew best of all and was probably feeling bad for Kliff as much as himself for what was to come.

Alm, however, though surprised seemed confused more than anything. Well, the two of them didn’t make things obvious, so that’s not a surprise.

Now Gray…Gray was not the least bit happy. The dark skinned teen was not hateful or disgusted, only confused and hurt. Kliff could understand, he guessed, but he was still not looking forward to dealing with a sulking Gray.

Speaking of…

“Are you guys…on a date?” asked Gray incredulously, confused.

Before answering Clair glanced at Kliff—only getting a shrug in return—then crossed her arms and said, “Why yes, yes we are.”

 Gray opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it. He repeated the process once more before finally getting the words out to ask, “When…did this happen?”

“It’ll be two months next week,” answered Kliff with a sigh. He put a hand on his hip and added, “Look, I know you’re just brimming with questions, but we got to go. Clair has a test tomorrow that she needs to study for.”

And he’d like to avoid dealing with this at the moment. Have more sleep and energy for it if he can.

Gray frowned and Tobin put a hand on his shoulder just as it seemed that he was thinking about speaking up again.

Luckily, Alm spoke and he did so with a smile. “Alright. Be careful on your way home and congratulations on getting together.” He furrowed his brows in thought. “It is appropriate to congratulate someone on a relationship, right?”

Kliff waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll see you guys tomorrow at school.”

Alm waved, smile returning. “See ya.”

The couple left the building and made their way to her parked car.

She unlocked the doors. “That went better than expected for you, right? You had nothing to worry about.”

They both got in and buckled their seat belts. Kliff leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. It probably, most likely, won’t be as bad as he’s making it out to be, but it was better safe than sorry in almost cases. “I’ll let you believe that.”


	15. In Which Faye is a Dangerous Adversary When It Comes to Protecting Her Boys

When Kliff made it to school the next day, his mom letting him get some driving in while she sat passenger and commented throughout, he was mentally prepared to deal with his friends and high possibility of questioning. There was absolutely no way that they weren’t going to, he knew them. Couldn’t really blame them, he’s never shown much interest in dating before. It was going to be fun explaining to them.

He shut the door to his locker with a sigh and turned to go to his first class. His steps faltered when he saw Faye a couple feet ahead of him, standing there and looking at him. She had an expectant look on her face, but made no gesture or said one word, just looked and waited.

Well, Kliff got the picture. Moving forward until he reached her side the two of them walked at a leisurely pace down the hall.

Things people didn’t realize about Faye were that she was protective, fiercely so, of those she cared about and that she could knock a grown man onto his back with a strong jab to the throat. She looked cute and sweet, but she would slit a man’s throat in his sleep if she thought it would protect her loved ones.

It wasn’t always like that with her. When they were younger she was clingy and cheerful and couldn’t hurt someone, but after they all almost got kidnapped and hurt he was sure she made a vow to protect her friends. Because after that she started learning how to fight and took classes, they all did, but she took it further and kept it up. Nothing so drastic has happened to them again, but Kliff knows he could always depend on her if something happened he could not handle.

He loved her for it. When it came to Faye and Tobin, he loved them, they were his best friends.

That didn’t mean that Kliff didn’t think that Faye could overboard if she felt it necessary, especially after watching her break a guy’s arm for touching her inappropriately (though he’d never say it, Kliff did approve of that method for that case).

Clair had every right to be afraid of the lioness next to him.

“You and Clair, huh?” asked Faye, though he was sure it was more of a comment than anything.

“Yes, Faye, Clair and I,” he said.

She stopped and turned to him. He did the same. Other students made their way around the two, careful not to bump into either of them. They still had a few minutes before class and he was more than happy to note that. It gave him enough time to persuade his friend not to threaten bodily harm on his girlfriend, though he doubted she’d listen and would probably do it anyway.

“Why are you dating her?” she asked. “Because you like her or because it seemed interesting?”

He pursed his lips before answering. “I do like her. Maybe at first I was unsure and wanted to see what it was like, kind of hard not to when you see how happy Alm and Celica are together, but I like how strong and outspoken she is. My feelings are sincere.”

Faye gripped her books tightly and narrowed her eyes. “And what about her? Or is she just trying to forget her feelings for Alm?”

And there’s the hard hitting questions that Kliff knew were coming. “If she didn’t like me I doubt she’d put up with my attitude and reclusive nature as well as she has.”

“That’s not a proper answer.”

Kliff sighed and looked away as a blush rose to his cheeks. “…she does…”

It was quiet between them for a moment and he could hear the deep meditative breathing coming from Faye as she kept herself calm. Kliff was in no big hurry to rush her. When she finally opened her eyes, her expression was stern and full of holy fire. “Okay.”

“Okay…?” he repeated, unsure.

“Mhm,” she said with a nod. “But I will be letting her know that if she hurts you in any way that I will gouge out her eyes and shove them down her throat then send her heart to her brother while her body hangs outside their house.”

Gods have mercy. “Faye, no,” Kliff said, stern.

She smiled sweetly and said, “Faye, yes.” And then she walked away like she didn’t just decide to threaten his girlfriend and traumatize said girlfriend’s family.

Okay, that went about as well as he thought it would. He ran a hand down his face with a sigh. First things first, get to Clair and forewarn her of Faye’s impending threat. After that, get Alm or Tobin to talk to Faye to get her calmed down just in case she seriously decides to do something drastic. It’s happened before and it could happen again.

There was a reason why people never messed with Faye.

And Kliff quietly hoped that if things begin happening with the yoga instructor that his friend would calm down because she would be getting laid.

 

 

 

Luck was on his side and he was able to get Alm to talk down Faye before she had her chance to grace Clair with her presence. The only reaction that Alm had to the plea was a sigh and a shake of his head before leaving to find her. Clair he had yet to find until he turned and saw her coming his way, smiling.

Perfect timing.

As soon as she was within reach he said, “Watch out for Faye.”

She blinked and frowned. “Well, hello to you too. Where are your manners this morning?” she asked with a huff.

“They took an indefinite vacation. I might get new ones soon, who knows,” said Kliff without a thought. “Seriously, watch out for Faye. If she pulls you aside to talk to you do not take the words she says with a grain of salt. Take them very seriously.”

Clair put a hand on her hip. “What on earth are you talking about?” Then her eyes widened and gulped. “Wait…is she upset with me?”

He sighed. “More like extremely protective. She will threaten you.”

Even though she looked a bit concerned and scared a determined look came to her. She stood straighter, shoulders back and back straight, chin held high. Her hip cocked to the side, hand still resting there, and the first impression he got was ‘haughty’.

“I will not let her threats change our relationship status, if that’s what she’s hoping for. I will continue to date you whether she likes it or not, she doesn’t get a say.” She huffed.

Haughty…and strong.

“You’re beautiful,” Kliff blurted out. He pursed his lips as his face became red and looked away.

When he glanced back at the blonde there was surprise and a pleased blush coating her cheeks, but her smile radiated happiness. It wasn’t something he said to her, not often at least. So when he did compliment her she always brimmed with happiness.

He glanced down the hall quickly, no one really paying attention as far as he could tell, and leaned in to give her a quick peck on the cheek. He pulled back quickly and took a couple steps backwards before turning away from her. “Just…be careful of Faye. She’s like my sister, but she can be extreme sometimes.”

Then he quickly walked away to his next class.

 

 

 

It was at lunch when Kliff saw Tobin. Relief filled him and he more than happily sat down with him with his lunch. Even if the other teen seemed annoyed at least it was better than dealing with Faye glaring at his girlfriend and watching Alm play mediator while Gray moped. Usually the two of them sat with the other four, but Tobin must have decided to steer clear.

And Kliff just wanted to keep his friend company, of course.

When Tobin finally decides to give his friend attention, it was halfway through his slice of pizza and a few minutes of companionable silence. “You and Clair doing good?” the brunet asked hesitantly.

Kliff shrugged. “Fine. Did you hear Gray complain about it for most of the night?”

Tobin flinched and picked at his food. “Yeah…”

“Sorry.” And Kliff was. It was one of the reasons he didn’t want to say anything right away, he knew that Tobin would have to deal with Gray sulking about it and he was trying to put that off for as long as possible. Granted, it wasn’t the main reason, but it was definitely one.

The other teen just waved his hand dismissively. “It’s not on you. You guys want to date each other then that’s just something he’s going to have to deal with.” He sighed. “I’ll just have to ride through it like I usually do.”

Kliff took a bite of his pizza and swallowed before saying, “Are you surprised its Clair?”

Tobin shrugged. “Kind of? Considering the last person you had a crush on laughed in your face when you finally got the courage to ask her out, I thought you were going to cut off all relationships.”

That wasn’t a good memory and Kliff winced at the memory. Don’t get him wrong, the girl wasn’t trying to be cruel, but she was also pretty full of herself. They still talked a little bit since she was sort of a part of their group when not with her other friends, but mostly it was her brother that was friends with them. And her brother was off doing the university-travel abroad thing.

She did apologize after she realized that laughing at someone after they confess something like that wasn’t the best reaction. It took a while for them to talk again, but she was more persistent about it until he gave in.

Nowadays she was doing her thing in track and field and he would sometimes go to her meets if she invited him.

“Yeah, well, things change.”

Tobin laughed and smiled. “True enough.”

Kliff got through the rest of his pizza by the time the brunet spoke again. “Did you get to Alm before Faye found Clair?”

“I did.” then he followed his friend’s gaze to where they landed over his shoulders and he didn’t even bother to turn around, only sighing. “There’s a stare down, isn’t there?”

“Yup.”

“No blood?”

“Nope.”

“Then Alm did his job and Clair can live another day.”

Tobin tilted his head in thought, then looked at Kliff. “Who do you think would win: Clair or Faye?”

Kliff groaned and covered his face with a hand. “I should say Clair, I suppose, since she’s my girlfriend, but I’m not one for lying.”

Tobin nodded as he crossed his arms. “Clair’s tough and all, but Faye will fight dirty and go in for the kill.”

Frowning, Kliff said, “There is no lie in that statement.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that Faye can be vicious and will do what needs to be done to protect her loved ones if need be. And she's not exactly a horrible unit either, whether as a cleric or pegasus knight. Clair is also just as beastly, but she's classier too.
> 
> Who do you think would win in a fight: Clair or Faye?


	16. Jealousy is an Ugly Thing-Monster and Please Stop Moping, I Already Have the Rest of the School Against Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a week late, sorry, guys. I had a couple days of nearly twelve hour shifts and just wanted to relax and not worry about posting. I still ended up feeling bad or unproductive since I didn't post though... Can't win for losing, huh?

A week later found Kliff being pulled aside from Genny by his dark skinned friend. It took longer than the freshman thought it would for his friend to confront him, but hopefully that means it won’t be such an emotional confrontation. One could dream, right? Right. A dream of lies and hopes squandered. His positivity was astounded, he knew.

From the corner of his eye he saw his girlfriend make her way over, only to stop next to Genny, waiting. Oh, fun; the look on her face was something he knew was going to lead to an…interesting talk to say the least. Clair did not look happy and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know; even though he was pretty sure she was going to tell him anyways.

When they turned the corner and he was out of eyesight from the two ladies Gray turned to stare him down in the eyes, arms crossed. The anger that was visible in his eyes from earlier in the week was gone and only frustrating and resignation were in its place.

Well, maybe this won’t go as bad as Kliff originally had thought.

“Why Clair? You knew I liked her and yet you’re dating her anyways,” he asked.

Kliff narrowed his eyes. “Okay, first of all, she’s her own person and can pursue whoever and whatever she wants, like I can, regardless of how you feel about it.”

Gray made a face and sighed. “Yeah, I know, it’s just hard to take in. I probably should have worded that differently.”

Kliff nodded and let it go.

“Okay, but still, why Clair? I thought you were interested in girls like Delthea?” he asked, shoulders slumping.

The freshman rolled his eyes. “Delthea has nothing to do with anything.”

“You’re not answering my question.”

“Because you keep bringing up stuff that have nothing to do with the conversation.”

“You showed no interesting in Clair!”

“Keep your voice down,” Kliff hissed, glaring.

Gray took a breath, rubbing at his head as his body tried to relax again. There were footsteps coming down the hall and both teenagers looked to see who it was and Kliff breathed a sigh of relief to find it was only Tobin. That was something the younger teenager could live with. He looked over towards the teen in front of him and saw the conflict in him.

This outburst of emotion wasn’t something that Gray did. Kliff wasn’t the closest to him, but he knew the other teen and Gray was pretty laidback. Yeah, sometimes Gray would get upset, but not like this, not like he was going to attack a friend over it. For the love of all that was holy, the guy was the one to get Tobin to calm down when he started stressing over everything or when their friend was getting insecure. Gray was just that guy.

But maybe it had more to do with a sexuality crisis and not being able to cling to Clair and possible confusing thoughts surrounding Tobin. And the more Kliff watched him and took in the tensing of the older teen’s body and how he darted his eyes to any female so he wouldn’t stare at their friend even if his eyes always strayed back to Tobin.

Kliff sighed. “Look, maybe we shouldn’t talk for a while. You obviously have some things to figure out and taking it out on me isn’t going to help anyone.” Gray opened his mouth, denial quick to his tongue, but Kliff spoke before he could. “We’ll talk again once you got yourself figured out.”

The other teen pursed his lips, glanced over to where Tobin was standing and watching, before looking back at his freshman friend. He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, good idea. Sorry about this.”

He waved him off. “Just go, don’t worry about me.”

As his friend walked off Kliff knew he was ready to go home. Completely ready to hide himself in his room and either stick his face in a book or in his game. The guildmates he was closest to wouldn’t be on, but there were a few he knew would be. If only it’d be worth it to get yelled at by his mother, but alas, it definitely was not. The woman could screech like a banshee.

Walking back to Genny and Clair after that fiasco of a talk—which went about as well as he thought it would—he found not only those two but also found one of Genny’s other friend’s Est. at least, he believed that was her name if he remembered correctly. The pink haired girl didn’t go to this school, but must be visiting. The badge hanging around her neck confirmed that for him.

Est was talking pretty animatedly with Genny, but as soon as he was in sight the blonde head of his girlfriend turned to meet him. He watched her huff and stalk up to him and then took his arm in his hers.

“Kliff, dear, my little gremlin, is Gray still giving you a hard time?” she asked, exasperated and with a roll of her eyes.

“He’s the least of my worries, we’ll be fine.” He shrugged. “The rest of the school, however? They have been annoying to deal with.”

She made a face, nose scrunched up and eyes hard as she squeezed his arm against her chest. Clair huffed and turned up her nose at the comment. “I think I liked it better when no one knew about it.”

The look he gave her was deadpanned as he said, “Then maybe you shouldn’t have kissed me in the hallway.”

“I thought there was no one in the hall!” she said with a glare.

He ignored that. That was a couple days ago and he was still annoyed with it. Kliff was fine with his friends knowing because eventually they were going to find out anyways. Everyone else in the school he knew was going to give him a hard time and that was mainly why he was frustrated with it. Gray and him? They’ll be okay eventually. The rest of these kids in school? It’ll take a lot longer to get through the masses of a high school full of teenagers before it’d calm down.

A few weeks at least, possibly even a few months, who knows. With Gray he knew it’d be a small while and if he could get his head out of his ass to deal with his issues then maybe they’ll be on the same page within another week. The stares he was getting the past couple days were more than enough to know how Clair felt.

Clair was a popular girl and he knew that some of the jocks and other guys in school were eyeing him like he was some thief. They wanted Clair, but couldn’t be with her because she chose him and they didn’t understand why. She’s taking it in stride and with elegance, but he knew that underneath all that she was growing irritable along with him.

If neither of their families would find out about them disappearing from school he would suggest they go, but his mother was an iron wall on education and he was sure her brother had people in places that they didn’t know about.

Right now, though, the two of them would probably kill each other.

Faye would not complain about it, he knew that much. She’d help hide the body even.

A group of girls passed by and whispered as they kept glancing in their direction. Clair glared at them and they scurried off as quickly as they could.

“Thank the gods, it’s Friday,” groaned Clair, hiding her face in his shoulder.

Kliff tried to shake her off and sighed when she wouldn’t let go. “I’m glad Faye has the school afraid of her or I’d have guys meeting up with me in the boys’ bathroom like some 80’s movie cliché.”

“Are you saying I’m not scary enough?” she asked, affronted.

He looked at her. “Have you knocked out a man twice your size? Broke a man’s arm? Scared a girl into submission just by glaring?”

She sniffed and said, “I’ve had no reason to, but don’t doubt my skill.”

“Of course.”

“I have at least my charms and people skills and can use that to my advantage.”

He shrugged. “That’s true enough.” Kliff sighed. “I’m ready to go home.”

She let go of him and leaned against the locker behind her. “At least you don’t have cheer practice after school.”

“Thank the gods.”


End file.
